Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

DOI

10.3390/atmos12101304

Publication Title

Atmosphere

Volume

12

Issue

10

Pages

1304 (1-13)

Abstract

Poor air quality represents a significant health risk for individuals engaging in recreation activities outdoors in urban parks and trails. This study investigated temporal variability in particulate matter (PM) exposure along an urban waterfront trail. We also used recreation choice frameworks to examine the effects of visitors’ perceptions of air quality (AQ) and health benefits on trail use. Average air quality during the collection period was “good” (PM10) to “moderate” (PM2.5). We found that PM density was significantly higher (p < 0.001), though still in the “moderate” range, at 7–9 a.m., 11 a.m.–1 p.m., and 3–5 p.m., and on weekends. Visitors’ self-reported perceptions of health outcomes, but not air quality, significantly predicted trail use. Results suggest that these experiential factors may affect recreational choices depending on other factors, such as salience. Further research is merited to determine how experiential factors can be integrated with other theories of motivation to understand recreational decision-making.

Comments

© 2021 by the authors.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Original Publication Citation

McCann, J. E., Zajchowski, C. A. B., Hill, E. L., & Zhu, X. (2021). Air pollution and outdoor recreation on urban trails: A case study of the Elizabeth River Trail, Norfolk. Atmosphere, 12(10), 1-13, Article 1304. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12101304

ORCID

0000-0002-9909-2624 (Zajchowski), 0000-0002-3621-5666 (Hill), 0000-0002-5048-3464 (Zhu)

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