환경오염 취약지역 주민의 환경유해물질 노출 수준과 위해인식 간의 연관성: 경기도 환경보건 기초조사 결과를 바탕으로

Environmental Pollutant Exposure Levels and Risk Perception among Residents Living in Environmentally Vulnerable Areas: Findings from the Gyeonggi Environmental Health Survey

Background: Risk perception is a key concept in understanding community responses and participation in environmental health. The extent to which residents’ perceptions reflect actual exposure levels to environmental pollutants remains unclear, however. Objectives: We aimed to examine differences in urinary biomarkers of exposure according to the levels of risk perception of environmental pollution among residents living in environmentally vulnerable areas in Gyeonggi-do Province in South Korea. Methods: A total of 405 residents from four environmentally vulnerable areas were surveyed in the 2024 Gyeonggi Environmental Health Survey. Questionnaires assessed risk perception regarding local environmental pollution across four domains (local pollution level, health damage, mental impact, and economic loss) using a five-point Likert scale. Urine samples were collected to measure cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites (1-hydroxypyrene [1-OHP], 2-naphthol [2-NAP]), and volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolites (trans, trans-muconic acid [t,t-MA], benzylmercapturic acid [BMA]). Creatinine-adjusted concentrations were log-transformed, presented as geometric means (GM). Associations between risk perception and biomarker concentrations were analyzed using linear regression models adjusted for key sociodemographic factors. Results: Urinary concentrations of most biomarkers were higher in residents than among the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) Cycle 5 participants in their 60s. Risk perception levels showed no significant associations with urinary concentrations of Cd, Hg, t,t-MA, BMA, or 2-NAP. Only 1-OHP was positively associated with higher perception of local environmental pollution (β=0.169, p=0.042). Conclusions: Overall, residents’ risk perception did not correspond to their internal exposure levels, indicating that subjective awareness of environmental hazards may not reliably reflect actual body burden.