Awareness of and Preferences for Reducing Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Product Pollution

Abstract

This thesis is a part of the European research project PHARMASEA, which focuses on exploring the presence, behavior, and risk assessment of pharmaceuticals in marine ecosystems. The goal of this thesis is to develop an experimental tool to address specific objectives, related research questions, and hypotheses concerning pollution from pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Through a survey incorporating a stated preference contingent valuation experiment, this thesis aims to measure levels of awareness, PPCP usage intensities, disposal practices, and preferences/Willingness to Pay (WTP) for reducing PPCP emissions. The main research question for this thesis and the European PPCP survey is: “To what extent do European citizens have awareness of and preferences for reducing Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Product (PPCP) pollution?”

A pilot survey was conducted in April 2024 to test the questionnaire before it was sent to the professional survey company YouGov, which conducted the survey on behalf of the University of Stavanger. YouGov produced one dataset with data collected in Germany, Italy, and Norway. The results in this thesis are based on the answers from the pilot survey.

The pilot's results, which included 95 respondents, revealed several interesting potential correlations from both descriptive and regression analyses. The results indicate that a significant proportion of respondents are unaware of the PPCP pollution problem. Furthermore, unawareness increases the likelihood of disposing of these products in ways that harm the environment.

The average WTP to reduce PPCP pollution in the contingent valuation experiment was NOK 988 per household annually with expressed WTP varying across respondents and experimental design. Respondents who received detailed information about the problem tended to exhibit lower WTP compared to those who received basic information. Furthermore, respondents presented with a higher percentage reduction in pollution tended to show higher WTP than those presented with lower percentages. These findings underscore the importance of awareness and depth of information as potential factors that influence public engagement and willingness to invest in solutions for the PPCP pollution problem.