participatory testing and reporting in an environmental-justice community of worcester, massachusetts a pilot project参与测试和报告在伍斯特的环境正义社会,马萨诸塞州一个试点项目.pdfVIP

Downs et al. Environmental Health 2010, 9:34 /content/9/1/34 RESEARCH Open Access Participatory testing and reporting in an environmental-justice community of Worcester, Massachusetts: a pilot project 1,2* 3 1 1 2 1,2 Timothy J Downs , Laurie Ross , Danielle Mucciarone , Maria-Camila Calvache , Octavia Taylor , Robert Goble Abstract Background: Despite indoor home environments being where people spend most time, involving residents in testing those environments has been very limited, especially in marginalized communities. We piloted participatory testing and reporting that combined relatively simple tests with actionable reporting to empower residents in Main South/Piedmont neighborhoods of Worcester, Massachusetts. We answered: 1) How do we design and implement the approach for neighborhood and household environments using participatory methods? 2) What do pilot tests reveal? 3) How does our experience inform testing practice? Methods: The approach was designed and implemented with community partners using community-based participatory research. Residents and researchers tested fourteen homes for: lead in dust indoors, soil outdoors, paint indoors and drinking water; radon in basement air; PM2.5 in indoor air; mold spores in indoor/outdoor air; and drinking water quality. Monitoring of neighborhood particulates by residents and researchers used real-time data to stimulate dialogue. Results: Given the newness of our partnership and unforeseen conflicts, we achieved moderate-high success overall based on process and outcome criteria: methods, test results, reporting, lessons learned. The conflict burden we experienced may be attributable less to generic university-community di