Published March 11, 2023 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Integrated assessment of personal monitor applications for evaluating exposure to urban stressors: A scoping review

  • 1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Joˇzef Stefan Institute, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 2. Biomedical Engineering & Aerospace Neuroscience (BEAN), Laboratory of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • 3. Ambiente Italia Società a Responsabilit`a Limitata, Department of Adaptation and Resilience, 20129, Milan, Italy
  • 4. Urban Resilience Department, City of Milan, Italy
  • 5. Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece; HERACLES Research Centre on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece; Department of Science, Technology and Society, University School of Advanced Study IUSS, 27100, Pavia, Italy

Description

Urban stressors pose a health risk, and individual-level assessments provide necessary and fine-grained insight into exposure. An ever-increasing amount of research literature on individual-level exposure to urban stressors using data collected with personal monitors, has called for an integrated assessment approach to identify trends, gaps and needs, and provide recommendations for future research. To this end, a scoping review of the respective literature was performed, as part of the H2020 URBANOME project. Moreover, three specific aims were identified: (i) determine current state of research, (ii) analyse literature according with a waterfall methodological framework and identify gaps and needs, and (iii) provide recommendations for more integrated, inclusive and robust approaches. Knowledge and gaps were extracted based on a systematic approach, e.g., data extraction questionnaires, as well as through the expertise of the researchers performing the review. The findings were assessed through a waterfall methodology of  delineating projects into four phases. Studies described in the papers vary in their scope, with most assessing exposure in a single macro domain, though a trend of moving towards multi-domain assessment is evident. Simultaneous measurements of multiple stressors are not common, and papers predominantly assess exposure to air pollution. As urban environments become more diverse,
stakeholders from different groups are included in the study designs. Most frequently (per the quadruple helix model), civil society/NGO groups are involved, followed by government and policymakers, while business or private sector stakeholders are less frequently represented. Participants in general function as data collectors and are rarely involved in other phases of the research. While more active involvement is not necessary, more collaborative approaches show higher engagement and motivation of participants to alter their lifestyles based on the research results. The identified trends, gaps and needs can aid future exposure research and provide recommendations on addressing different urban communities and stakeholders.

Files

Integrated assessment of personal monitor applications for evaluating exposure to urban stressors A scoping review.pdf

Additional details

Funding

URBANOME – Urban Observatory for Multi-participatory Enhancement of Health and Wellbeing 945391
European Commission