Polución del aire: retos de las implicaciones psicosociales y síntomas de ansiedad desde la psicología en Puerto Rico

Xavier  Soto Ruiz; Héctor José  Velázquez González; Verónica   Vélez González

doi:10.16925/2382-3984.2020.01.04

Air pollution : Participatory elements in the development of an anxious animosity and ethical considerations of the psychological practice in Puerto Rico

Original Research Articles

https://doi.org/10.16925/2382-3984.2020.01.04

Xavier Soto Ruiz Ver Biografía

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico

Héctor José Velázquez González Ver Biografía

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico

Verónica Vélez González Ver Biografía

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico

Introduction: World Health Organization establishes that air pollution is the greatest environmental threat to physical human health.

Aim: To critically reflect on psychological implications of air pollution. It was weighted air pollution perception against anxiety symptoms, with a special look on Puerto Ricans inhabitants.

Method: a theoretical review between 1990 and 2018 was carried out and also a reflection on the findings with special attention to psychology’s role as a discipline that promotes social transformation.

Results: air pollution affects countries worldwide. It is not known which period of time counts as biologically relevant to be exposed to particulate matter. A prolonged exposure could have greater effects on mental health. Air pollution and anxiety symptoms has been studied recently, although without conclusive empirical evidence.

Conclusions: reflect on the consequences of air pollution on mental health is worthy if one aspires to a better quality of life and a healthy environment. A call is made to psychological community to consider environmental factors in the clinical context as variables that have an impact on the individual’s well being and behavior, to consider alternate therapetics and to perform an active role in community’s fights.

Keywords: axienty, particulate matter, pollution perception, air pollution

Albarracín, J., Villavicencio, W., Ruiz, R., Sánchez, J., Serranao, L., Soto, C., Pérez, S., …Villa, C. (2017). Estudio epidemiológico en las comunidades de puente de Jobos y Miramar en Guayama y Santa Isidra y Rafael Bermúdez en Fajardo (Tesis de maestría inédita). Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Ciencias Médicas, San Juan, P.R.

Alfonso, O. (2 de marzo de 2016). Algo pasó en arroyo barril. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. Recuperado de http://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2016/03/algo-paso-en-arroyo-barril/

Alfonso, O. (14 de marzo de 2018). Tóxicos de las cenizas de AES están contaminando aguas subterráneas. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. Recuperado de http://www.noticel.com/ahora/txicos-de-las-cenizas-de-aes-estn-contaminando-aguas-subterrneas/716057901

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing.

American Psychological Association (2008). Psychology and Global Climate Change Addressing a Multifaceted Phenomenon and Set of Challenges. Recuperado de http://www.apa.org/science/about/publications/climate-change.aspx

Asociación de Psicología de Puerto Rico (2016). Comunicado de prensa: depósito de cenizas en el vertedero de Peñuelas. Recuperado de https://bit.ly/2LHdhMi

Bickerstaff, K. y Walker, G. (2001). Public Understandings of Air Pollution: The ‘Localisation' of Environmental Risk. Global Environmental Change, 11(2), 133-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00063-7

Block M. L. y Calderón-Garcidueñas, L. (2009). Air Pollution: Mechanisms of Neuroinflammation and CNS Disease. Trends Neurosciences, 32(9), 506-516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2009.05.009

Brauer, M. (2015). Air Pollution, Stroke, and Anxiety: Particulate Air Pollution is an Emerging Risk Factor for an Increasing Number of Common Conditions [Editorial]. BMJ, 350, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h1510

Butcher, J. M., Mineka, S. y Hooley, J. M. (2014). Abnormal Psychology (16th ed.). Nueva Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Catalán-Vázquez, M. y Jarillo-Soto, E. (2010). Paradigmas de investigación aplicados al estudio de la percepción pública de la contaminación del aire. Revista Internacional Contaminación Ambiental, 26(2), 165-178.

Chattopadhyay, P. K., Som, B., y Mukhopadhyay, P. (1995). Air Pollution and Health Hazards in Human Subjects: Physiological and Self-Report Indices. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 327-331. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1995.0029

Chen, C., Liu, C., Chen, R., Wang, W., Li, W., Kan, H., y Fu, C. (2018). Ambient Air Pollution and Daily Hospital Admissions for Mental Disorders in Shanghai, China. Science of Total Environment, 613-614, 324-330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.098

Chow, J. C., Watson, J. G., Mauderly, J. L., Costa, D. L., Wyzga, R. E., Vedal, S., Hidy, G. M., … Dockery, D. W. (2006). Health Effects of Fine Particulate Air Pollution: Lines that Connect. Journal of the Air y Waste Management Association, 56(10), 1368-1380. https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.2006.10464545

Claeson, A. S., Lidén, E., Nordin, M., y Nordin, S. (2013). The Role of Perceived Pollution and Health Risk Perception in Annoyance and Health Symptoms: A Population-Based Study of Odorous Air Pollution. International Archives of Occupational Environmental Health, 86, 367-374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-012-0770-8

Clark-Reyna, S. E., Grineski, S. E., y Collins, T. W. (2016). Residential Exposure to Air Toxics is Linked to Lower Grade Point Averages Among School Children in El Paso, Texas, USA. Population and Environment, 37(3), 319-340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-015-0241-8

Clayton, G. D. (1997). Historical Perspectives Air Pollution: U.S. Public Health Service Pioneering Studies; Genesis of the Environmental Protection Agency. Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 12(1), 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047322X.1997.10389447

Cohen, S. (1985). Cognitive Processes as Determinants of Environmental Stress. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 7(1-4), 65-81. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612848509009450

Crowe, M. J. (1968). Toward a “Definitional Model” of public perceptions of air pollution. Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, 18(3), 154-157. doi: 10.1080/00022470.1968.10469106

Elliott, S. J., Cole, D. C., Krueger, P., Voorberg, P. y Wakefield, S. (1999). The Power of Perception: Health Risk Attributed to Air Pollution in an Urban Industrial Neighborhood. Society for Risk Analysis, 19(4), 621-634. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007029518897

Evans, G. W. y Jacobs, S. V. (1981). Air Pollution and Human Behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 37(1), 95-125. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1981.tb01059.x

Fenger, J. (2009). Air Pollution in the Last 50 Years - From Local to Global. Atmospheric Environment, 43, 13-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.09.061

Few, R. (2007). Health and Climatic Hazards: Framing Social Research on Vulnerability, Response and Adaptation. Global Environmental Change, 17, 281-295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.11.001

Fonken, L. K., Xu, X., Weil, Z. M., Chen, G., Sun, Q., Rajagopalan, S., y Nelson, R. J. (2011). Air Pollution Impairs Cognition, Provokes Depressive-Like Behaviors and Alters Hippocampal Cytokine Expression and Morphology. Molecular Psychiatry, 16, 987-995.

Junta Examinadora de Psicólogos de Puerto Rico. (1992). Reglamento general. Recuperado de https://www.asppr.net/-junta-examinadora

Kelly, F. J. (2003). Oxidative Stress: Its Role in Air Pollution and Adverse Health Effects. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(8), 612-616.

Koger, S. M., Schettler, T. y Weiss, B. (2005). Environmental Toxicants and Developmental Disabilities. American Psychologist, 60(3), 243-255. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.3.243

Landrigan, P. J., y Goldman, L. R. (2011). Children’s Vulnerability to Toxic Chemicals: A Challenge and Opportunity to Strengthen Health and Environmental Policy. Heatlh Affairs, 30(5), 842-850. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0151

Lazarus, R. S., y Folkman, S. (1986). Estrés y procesos cognitivos. Barcelona: Martínez Roca.

Lezama, J. L. (2001). El medio ambiente como construcción social: reflexiones sobre la contaminación del aire en la ciudad de México. Estudios Sociológicos, 19(56), 325-338.

Liao, P., Shawn, D., y Lin, Y. (2015). Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction: Subjective Versus Objective Measures of Air Quality. Social Indicators Research, 124(2), 599-616. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0799-z

Lundberg, A. (1996). Psychiatric Aspects of Air Pollution. Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, 114(2), 227-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0194-59989670172-9

Moffatt, S., Phillimore, P., Bhopal, R., y Foy, C. (1995). 'If This is What It's Doing to our Lungs?' Industrial Pollution and Public Understanding in North–East England. Social Science y Medicine, 41(6), 883–891. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(94)00380-C

Moser, G. (2014). Psicología ambiental. Aspectos de las relaciones individuo-medioambiente. Bogotá: Ecoe Ediciones.

Nava-Ruíz, C., y Méndez-Armenta, M. (2011). Efectos neurotóxicos de metales pesados (cadmio, plomo, arsénico y talio). Archivos de Neurociencia, 16(3), 140-147. Recuperado de http://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/arcneu/ane-2011/ane113f.pdf

Navarro, P. L., Simpson-Houley, P. y De Man, A. F. (1987). Anxiety, Locus of Control and Appraisal of Air Pollution. Perceptual and Motor Skill, 64(3), 811-814. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1987.64.3.811

Neutra, R., Lipscomb, J., Satin, K., y Shusterman, D. (1991). Hypotheses to Explain the Higher Symptom Rates Observed around Hazardous Waste Sites. Environmental Health Perspectives, 94, 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.94-1567952

Oudin, A., Forsberg, B., Nordin A. A., Lind, N., Modig, L., Nordin, M., Nordin, S., … Nilsson, L. G. (2016). Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Dementia Incidence in Northern Sweden: A Longitudinal Study. Environmental Health Perspective, 124(3), 306–312. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408322

Perera, F. P. (2017). Multiple Threats to Child Health from Fossil Fuel Combustion: Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change. Environmental Health Perspective, 125(2), 141-148. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP299

Power, M. C., Kioumourtzoglou, M. A., Hart, J. E., Okereke, O. I., Laden, F., y Weisskopf, M. G. (2015). The Relation Between Past Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Prevalent Anxiety: Observational Cohort Study. BMJ, 350. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h1111

Pun, V. C., Manjourides, J. y Suh, H. (2017). Association of Ambient Air Pollution with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Older Adults. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(3), 342-348. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP494

Rivlin, L. G. (2002). The Ethical Imperative. En R. B. Bechtel y A. Churchman (Eds.), Handbook of Environmental Psychology (pp. 15-27). Nueva York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sass, V., Kravitz-Wirtz, N., Karceski, S. M., Hajat, A., Crowder, K., y Takeuchi, D. (2017). The Effects of Air Pollution on Psychological Distress. Health & Place, 48, 72-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.09.006

Simone, D., Eyles, J., Newbold, K. B., Kitchen P., y Williams, A. (2012). Air quality in Hamilton: Who is Concerned? Perceptions from Three Neighborhoods. Social Indicators Research, 108(2), 239-255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0064-2

Strickland, B. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of Psychology (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. Recuperado de https://bit.ly/3e4jEVV

Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]. (2016). Toxic Release Inventory Fact Sheet for Puerto Rico. Recuperado de https://iaspub.epa.gov/triexplorer/tri_factsheet.factsheet_forstate?ypstate=PRypyear=2016ypParent=TRIypDataSet=TRIQ1

Vogelzangs, N., Beekman, A.T.F., de Jonge P., y Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2013). Anxiety Disorders and Inflammation in a Large Adult Cohort. Translational Psychiatry, 3(4), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2013.27

World Health Organization (2005). Air Quality Guidelines Pollution: Global update 2005. Recuperado de https://bit.ly/3e4k9iL

World Health Organization. (2016). Ambient Air Pollution: A Global Assessment of Exposure and Burden of Disease. Recuperado de https://bit.ly/2LMYAY8

Xu, X., Ha, S. U., y Basnet, R. (2016). A Review of Epidemiological Research on Adverse Neurological Effects of Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution. Frontiers in Public Health, 4(157), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2016.00157

Soto Ruiz, X. ., Velázquez González, H. J. ., & Vélez González, V. . (2020). Air pollution: Participatory elements in the development of an anxious animosity and ethical considerations of the psychological practice in Puerto Rico. Pensando Psicología, 16(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.16925/2382-3984.2020.01.04

Download Citation

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

As the author of the article, I declare that is an original unpublished work exclusively created by me, that it has not been submitted for simultaneous evaluation by another publication and that there is no impediment of any kind for concession of the rights provided for in this contract.

In this sense, I am committed to await the result of the evaluation by the journal Pensando Psicología before considering its submission to another medium; in case the response by that publication is positive, additionally, I am committed to respond for any action involving claims, plagiarism or any other kind of claim that could be made by third parties.

At the same time, as the author or co-author, I declare that I am completely in agreement with the conditions presented in this work and that I cede all patrimonial rights, in other words, regarding reproduction, public communication, distribution, dissemination, transformation, making it available and all forms of exploitation of the work using any medium or procedure, during the term of the legal protection of the work and in every country in the world, to the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia Press.

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2020)

Published

2020-05-20

Downloads

PDF (Spanish)

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

https://plu.mx/plum/a/?doi=10.16925/2382-3984.2020.01.04