Browsing by Author "Cifuentes, Luis A."

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Air Pollution and Mortality in Latin America The Role of Education
    (LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, 2008) O'Neill, Marie S.; Bell, Michelle L.; Ranjit, Nalini; Cifuentes, Luis A.; Loomis, Dana; Gouveia, Nelson; Borja Aburto, Victor H.
    Background: People with less education in Europe, Asia, and the United States are at higher risk of mortality associated with daily and longer-term air pollution exposure. We examined whether educational level modified associations between mortality and ambient particulate pollution (PM10) in Latin America, using several timescales.
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    Effects of environmental alerts and pre-emergencies on pollutant concentrations in Santiago, Chile
    (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2012) Troncoso, Rodrigo; de Grange, Louis; Cifuentes, Luis A.
    To reduce air pollution levels in Santiago, Chile on days when the weather is expected to create poor ventilation conditions and increased air pollutant concentrations, the responsible authorities impose temporary restrictions on motor vehicles and certain industrial activities. We estimate the impact of these restrictions on the city's air quality using data collected by a network of monitoring stations. The estimates show that the restrictions do reduce the average concentrations of coarse and fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide (both gases are emitted mainly by vehicles). However, no significant changes were found in the sulfur dioxide concentrations, which are primarily the result of industrial processes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Goodbye Plastic Bags? Lessons from the Shopping Plastic Bag Ban in Chile
    (2024) Frey, Maximiliano; Cifuentes, Luis A.
    Bans on single-use plastic shopping bags (SUPBs) are a popular policy to tackle plastic pollution. However, their success has been evaluated solely based on reduced SUPBs consumption, ignoring the impacts of substitutes. This article addresses this gap by analyzing the Chilean plastic bag ban law. Results show a reduction of similar to 249 kilotons of SUPBs consumed and a change in the materiality of shopping bags (mainly toward paper), but also an increase of more than 50% of bin liners after the enactment of the ban. Despite some undesired effects, an improvement in the environmental performance of the bag market is obtained in fifteen of the eighteen categories studied. The environmental impacts are on average 38% lower than in the counterfactual scenario. This suggests that the law is being effective in protecting the environment. The strictness of the ban and its rapid enforcement were positive aspects of its design, but ignoring the end-of-life of the bags could be limiting its impact. To reduce the environmental impact of substitutes, it is recommended to create design guidelines for shopping bags and bin liners.
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    La amenaza del cambio climático a la salud de la población y la necesidad urgente de actuar
    (2020) Palmeiro Silva, Yasna Karina; Cifuentes, Luis A.; Cortés, Sandra; Olivares, Macarena; Silva, Ignacio; CEDEUS (Chile)
    Climate change is associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. This article analyses the threat of climate change on population health and the urgent need to implement measures to avoid this damage. Heat vulnerability, heatwave exposures, and wildfire exposure to forest fires have increased in Chile. In 2018, the annual mean concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exceeded the safe level proposed by the World Health Organization, increasing the risk of negative health outcomes. Thus, multidisciplinary and inter-sectoral mitigation and adaptation policies are needed. Among other elements, mental health impacts of climate change, health education provided by health workers to reduce negative health impacts of climate change, greater engagement of academia to generate evidence useful for policy-making processes and a better articulation between central and local governments should be considered. Finally, achieving a healthy population should be the aim of all these policies and efforts.
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    PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION SOURCES: THE ROLE OF TRUST IN REGULATORY INSTITUTIONS
    (2015) Bronfman, Nicolas C.; Jimenez, Raquel B.; Arevalo, Pilar C.; Cifuentes, Luis A.
    The aim of this study was to characterize the influence that different dimensions of public trust in regulatory institutions have on social acceptability judgments of electricity generation sources in Chile. Chilean university students' acceptability judgments of ten energy sources were characterized using a web-based survey, covering risk and benefit perceptions, declared levels of acceptability, and trust in regulatory institutions. Our results confirm the influence of public trust in regulatory institutions on general perceptions and acceptance of electricity generation sources, and corroborate the presence of two dimensions of trust in regulatory institutions: integrity-based trust and competence-based trust. Our results revealed a significant influence of both aspects on risk and benefit perceptions and acceptance of fossil fuels, biomass and nuclear power, while for NRES no significant relationships were found. For hydropower, integrity-based trust was the only form of trust that influenced perceptions of risks and benefits, and its influence over public acceptance was significantly larger than competence-based trust. Further analyses of results for each energy source and implications for regulators are discussed.
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    The influence of risk awareness and government trust on risk perception and preparedness for natural hazards
    (WILEY, 2023) Cisternas, Pamela C.; Cifuentes, Luis A.; Bronfman, Nicolas C.; Repetto, Paula B.
    Risk perception is considered the primary motivator for taking preparedness actions. But people with prior experience and a high-risk perception are not necessarily more prepared. This relationship is even more complex when assessing preparedness levels for hazards with different characteristics. These inconsistent findings can be explained by how preparedness has been measured and the influence of other factors, such as trust and risk awareness. Thus, the main goal of this study was to analyze the role of risk awareness and trust in authorities on risk perception and intention to prepare for natural hazards in a coastal city in Chile. A representative sample of the city of Concepcion, located in the center-south zone of Chile (n = 585), completed a survey. We measured risk awareness, risk perception, trust in authorities, and intention to prepare for two hazards: earthquakes/tsunamis and floods. Through structural equation models, we tested five hypotheses. We found that the perception of risk maintained a direct and positive influence on the intention to prepare for both hazards. The results showed that awareness and risk perception influence the intention to prepare and should be considered different concepts. Finally, trust did not significantly influence risk perception when faced with known hazards for the population. Implications for understanding the relationship between risk perception and direct experience are discussed.
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    Understanding social acceptance of electricity generation sources
    (ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2012) Bronfman, Nicolas C.; Jimenez, Raquel B.; Arevalo, Pilar C.; Cifuentes, Luis A.
    Social acceptability is a determinant factor in the failure or success of the government's decisions about which electricity generation sources will satisfy the growing demand for energy. The main goal of this study was to validate a causal trust-acceptability model for electricity generation sources. In the model, social acceptance of an energy source is directly caused by perceived risk and benefit and also by social trust in regulatory agencies (both directly and indirectly, through perceived risk and benefit). Results from a web-based survey of Chilean university students demonstrated that data for energy sources that are controversial in Chilean society (fossil fuels, hydro, and nuclear power) fit the hypothesized model, whereas data for non conventional renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal and tidal) did not. Perceived benefit had the greatest total effect on acceptability, thus emerging as a key predictive factor of social acceptability of controversial electricity generation sources. Further implications for regulatory agencies are discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Vulnerability to heat-related mortality in Latin America: A case-crossover study in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Santiago, Chile and Mexico City, Mexico
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2008) Bell, Michelle L.; O'Neill, Marie S.; Ranjit, Nalini; Borja Aburto, Victor H.; Cifuentes, Luis A.; Gouveia, Nelson C.
    Background Factors affecting vulnerability to heat-related mortality are not well understood. Identifying susceptible populations is of particular importance given anticipated rising temperatures from climatic change.