Commentary: Linking particulate matter and sulphur concentrations to air pollution annoyance: problems of measurement, scale and control.

Jacquemin et al. address an important topic in the field of epidemiology and public health by increasing understanding of the triggers of air pollution annoyance across 25 population centres in 14 countries in Europe. No study, however commendable, is without its limitations and this one is no exception. We offer a commentary of their article ‘Annoyance Due to Air Pollution in Europe’ as a means to enhance future study of air pollution perceptions. Our assessment focuses on three elements of their research: (i) measurement of the dependent variable, air pollution annoyance; (ii) problems associated with the spatial scale used to estimate air pollution exposure and (iii) the exclusion of statistical controls routinely used in the risk perception literature.