Integrated Research Observation System for Clean Air (OSCA)

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: School of Public Health

Abstract

"Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to Public Health in the UK" (DEFRA, 2017) and is consequently a focus of a range of regional and national policy interventions. However, since our transport systems, the way we heat our homes, our energy supply, our use of solvents and our agricultural systems are all changing, we know that profound changes in emissions and trends in air pollutants are likely in the coming years and indeed are already taking place. We need to understand our changing atmospheric composition, to ensure air quality policy has maximum benefit for the protection of human and environmental health.

The Clean Air: Analysis and Solutions Programme identifies the need for new capability to predict future changes in the sources, emissions and atmospheric processes responsible for air pollution. The OSCA project addresses this need through a multidisciplinary research activity, combining state-of-the-science atmospheric observations, laboratory studies, new data processing tools and integrated scientific synthesis to deliver new understanding of urban air pollution. OSCA will:

-Deliver improved quantification of emissions, combining lab measurements of brake & tyre wear sources, and measurements of the total fluxes of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from the BT Tower in London. Nonexhaust emissions comprise up to 70% of traffic-derived PM10, are poorly quantified, and whose relative importance will increase with UK fleet decarbonisation. Real-world emission measurements underpin air quality predictions and avoid dependence upon manufacturer data.

-Provide a definitive, state-of-the-science assessment of UK urban air quality through exploitation of the new RCUK-funded urban air quality Supersites in London, Birmingham and Manchester to deliver comprehensive, continuous and long-term measurements of atmospheric composition. These data will characterise the changing UK pollution climate, identify subtle emission trends during implementation of regional air quality policies, and provide a key resource for evaluation of ongoing trends.

-Develop new mathematical analyses to identify emergent trends / responses to policies and apply these alongside established methods to address key science uncertainties - e.g.: to assess the trends and changing sources of NO2; to provide definitive quantification of the contributions of non-exhaust traffic, woodsmoke and cooking activities to PM; to identify trends in and contributions to ammonia emissions; to identify changes VOC emissions - precursors to ozone formation.

-Provide data and infrastructure to underpin the wider Clean Air Programme, including development and deployment of novel sensor networks (QUANT); data to validate models and health effect calculations (InSPIRE and DREaM); insight into air quality response to policy initiatives (ANTICIPATE); sensor testing and pollutant source identification (APEx).

-Enable community mobilisation through intensive field campaigns, targeted at understanding the changing gas-phase reactivity climate of the UK atmosphere (which governs production of secondary PM and ozone), and the sources and chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols.

OSCA findings will support policymakers through a range of established relationships the PIs already maintain. These include engagements within the supersite host cities, and links to relevant national bodies, including Defra, DfT, DoH, PHE and the EA. The OSCA deliverables provide important new data and novel scientific approaches central to the assessment of future changes in the sources, emissions and atmospheric processes governing air pollution in the UK - the core of WP1 of the Clean Air programme. OSCA is fully embedded into the wider programme, informing policy decisions, monitoring the impacts of decisions, and feeding public health research and outcomes.

Planned Impact

OSCA is an underpinning proposal to the UKRI Clean Air Programme and will deliver significant impact through support for multiple projects, whilst also generating wider impacts in its own right. The main direct beneficiaries of the research are the agencies invested in the activities of the programme, national and regional policy makers and public health professionals. Since the Met Office and STFC are delivering the Framework for Clean Air Analysis in WP4 they are clear beneficiaries of the outputs. The key stakeholders at national level are the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs; the
Department for Transport; and Public Health England. At regional level key stakeholders are the combined authorities in London; Manchester and Birmingham and Transport for Greater Manchester and Transport for London. PHE Consultants in the regions provide public health advice to regional government.

OSCA project outcomes result from PIs working closely with policy makers at regional and national level to identify key areas of concern. Emissions of NOx are of immediate and direct importance to UK air quality policy and evaluating ongoing changes in emissions has direct policy relevance given the traffic fleet is changing rapidly. Whilst particulate traffic

exhaust emissions are relatively well understood, the quantification of non-exhaust emissions that OSCA will deliver has direct benefit to national and regional policy making as the UK fleet electrifies and conventional exhaust emissions diminish. OSCA will provide policy makers with new information on the contributions to the urban mass burden from sources such as wood burning and cooking which can be used to base future decisions regarding PM control. OSCA will provide new data on urban ammonia and source attribution between agriculture and urban sources and so support policy makers in their prioritisation and strategies for reducing emissions.

Identifying the drivers of trends in pollutant concentrations and attributing changes to specific interventions and policies is extremely challenging, given the large number of confounders that exist. OSCA will develop approaches to tackle this problem, utilising a wide range of data currently available to assess the extent to which such causality can be attributed and will provide a framework for wider modelling work that will investigate this. Such tools will be widely disseminated for other stakeholders to use themselves.

OSCA measurements of the composition of air pollution, along with source attribution, will provide observational constraints to other projects within the Clean Air programme who are forecasting air quality, modelling policy interventions, assessing air quality sensor networks, measurement innovation, assessing exposure and identifying health impacts. The information and expertise from OSCA will therefore inform public health professionals investigating the health impacts of air quality in UK cities.

This work has the potential to generate significant impact with regional authorities in other areas of the UK, through the dissemination of findings, and the translation of tools. The project will seek out aspects of the research that have wider applicability to other cities and work to support decision-making more broadly in the UK.

Lastly, in many cases air quality improvements will not be delivered by policy alone but require public engagement, including technology uptake and behaviour change to deliver cleaner air. The willingness of the public to embrace change is very dependent on their knowledge of the problem, their trust in the solutions and engagement with the change process. By publicising our findings on local issues derived for example from local source apportionment, we have the potential to generate impact through region-specific public engagement, raising awareness of air pollution sources and the activities that drive emissions.

Publications

10 25 50

publication icon
Garcia-Marlès M (2024) Inter-annual trends of ultrafine particles in urban Europe. in Environment international

Related Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Award Value
NE/T001909/1 13/02/2019 29/06/2020 £491,257
NE/T001909/2 Transfer NE/T001909/1 30/06/2020 11/10/2023 £384,957
 
Description Over half of direct particle emissions from road traffic is from non-exhaust emissions such as brake and tyre wear and resuspension. Highly time resolved measurements of the increment of key tracers for these sources at the busy central roadside measurement site, above the urban background, were used to calculate improved assessments of emission factors for these sources. Brake wear was found to be the highest average non-exhaust emission source. During Covid lockdown, changes in traffic flow and dryer weather allowed us to demonstrate that the tyre and resuspension non-exhaust emissions were dependent upon speed and road surface wetness conditions.
We used these results to predict brake, tyre, and road wear emission estimates for passenger cars in the UK based on changes in modelled traffic volume and battery electric vehicle uptake (vehicle mass, and regenerative braking). We found that the reduction in emissions due to regenerative braking (~60-90% reduction depending on drive cycle used) was predicted to mitigate increased tyre and road wear emissions due to increased mass and vehicle use.
We have also undertaken detailed modelling of the impact of regenerative braking on emissions to better quantify the emission reduction with industry partners (Bosch)
Exploitation Route There is a high level of uncertainty in current emission factors for non-exhaust emissions. The novel use of the CO2 dilution method provides a method for similar work to be repeated in other other locations. The new emission factors can be used by other researchers and policy makers to assess the impact of non-exhaust emissions currently and in the future.
Sectors Energy

Environment

Government

Democracy and Justice

URL https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c01072
 
Description RI-URBANs
Amount £7,100,000 (GBP)
Funding ID 101036245 
Organisation European Commission H2020 
Sector Public
Country Belgium
Start 09/2021 
End 09/2025
 
Title NERC OSCA dataset 
Description This database holds the data from the NERC London Air Quality Supersite 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2024 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This provides high time resolution ambient concentrations of gases and aerosols that will enable researchers to understand the sources and process that impact air quality in London 
URL https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/4de9d15d226940e98294ab0793d2926a
 
Description Collaboration with Paul Scherrer Institut on development of source apportionment techniques for high time resolution XRF measurements of PM10 and PM2.5 
Organisation Paul Scherrer Institute
Department Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry
Country Switzerland 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution We have shared data and helped to advance the analytical approach for source apportionment of measurements of elements in PM10 and PM2.5 in both London and Zurich. We have held several meetings where both research groups have presented data analysis and this had led to a joint publication on the Zurich data that is in the last stages of review. We have prepared a draft of a paper on the London data.
Collaborator Contribution PSI have shared data and helped to advance the analytical approach for source apportionment of measurements of elements in PM10 and PM2.5 in both London and Zurich. We have held several meetings where both research groups have presented data analysis and this had led to a joint publication on the Zurich data that is in the last stages of review.
Impact Publication completed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeaoa.2022.100165. This collaboration led to a deliverable in a Horizon 2020 grant (RI-URBANS) to develop this collaboration into a multi-national user group. Currently there are 52 participants in the group, covering 12 countries. The countries are mainly within Europe but also include Qatar. The aim is to standardise the analysis and source apportionment approaches for these new high time resolution XRF instruments to provide more consistent data for international analysis. Further, we are at the point of compiling the datasets available in Europe with a plan of writing an overview paper in summer 2023.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Field campaign in Barcelona 
Organisation Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Department Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA)
Country Spain 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution We transported research equipment to Barcelona to undertake a field campaign at a roadside site and augmented the urban background measurement station with additional instrumentation to allow a direct comparison between the two.
Collaborator Contribution At the roadside measurement station, CSIC provided power connection, paid for a subcontractor to install traffic counting and identification cameras and installed additional instrumentation to collect PM2.5 and PM10 for chemical analysis and to measure particle number concentrations. At the background station, CSIC provided technical support, hosted additional instrumentation and provided data for analysis.
Impact Data sets have been finalised and this has contributed valuable data to a PhD thesis from which further publications will follow
Start Year 2021
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Czech Hydrometorological Instutute (CHMI)
Country Czech Republic 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Country Switzerland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Hamad bin Khalifa University
Country Qatar 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation IMT Lille Douai
Country France 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation INFN Sezione di Firenze
Country Italy 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Institut Scientifique de Service Public
Country Belgium 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals
Country Czech Republic 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Lund University
Country Sweden 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Manchester University
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation National Centre for Scientific Research (NCSR) Demokritos
Country Greece 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation National Research Council
Department Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
Country Italy 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Paul Scherrer Institute
Department Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry
Country Switzerland 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Department Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA)
Country Spain 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation The Cyprus Institute
Country Cyprus 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation University of Birmingham
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description High time resolution X-ray fluorescence Working Group 
Organisation University of Wroclaw
Country Poland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution As co-leaders of the working group we convene regular meetings between international users of high time resolution instrumentation and the equipment manufacturers, we are producing standard operating procedures for the instrumentation which are being widely used and developing standard methods for receptor modelling. We are gathering data to produce the first meta analysis of this ambient air pollution measurements of elemental composition in Europe.
Collaborator Contribution Co-leaders at the Paul Scherrer Institute help to organise the meetings. All partners contribute data to the meta analysis paper.
Impact We had our first in person meeting at the European Aerosol Conference in 2023.
Start Year 2023
 
Description Identification of lead (Pb) in Singapore's air 
Organisation Nanyang Technological University
Country Singapore 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The NTU-ICL collaboration aimed to set up a research partnership to study lead and other toxic contaminants in atmospheric particulate matter in Singapore and was supported by a £8,000 travel grant from Imperial College London for UK partners. This enabled knowledge exchange between specialist groups at ICL and NTU to produce a preliminary data set that will be critical for larger funding applications. During the pre-study, we aim (i) to identify the sources of lead and of atmospheric particulate matter and (ii) to determine the size fraction with the highest lead content. We sampled potential source materials for lead and PM (i.e., road dust, tires, brakes) and we will collect PM outdoors at different locations. We conducted different examinations of the PM in the relevant labs at ICL: magnetic properties, Pb isotope ratio and concentration analysis. The later also enabled the NTU group to get experience with isotope and concentrations measurements using new tri-pole mass spectrometers based at ICL.
Collaborator Contribution The NTU-ICL collaboration was supported with a SGD$14,000 travel grant from NTU. NTU undertook sampling of source materials for lead and PM and conducted complimentary analysis of PM in the relevant labs at NTU: magnetic properties, Pb isotope ratio and concentration analysis which is critical to data quality and data control
Impact Workshop in Singapore
Start Year 2024
 
Description Guys and St Thomas' Trust Training 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Supporters
Results and Impact A workshop to broaden the knowledge of a funding agency into issues around air pollution
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Introduction to Air quality Course 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This course focuses on the health effects of air pollution in urban areas. Starting from the basics, it goes on to explore the research and evidence of whom it affects and how some people are more susceptible to its harmful effects than others. Participants also gain a detailed understanding of the main sources and what is being done to understand and reduce them.


the 20 participants on the course learn to:

Describe the sources and causes of outdoor and indoor air pollutants that are harmful to people's health.
Identify how air pollution affects people's health at different stages of life
Understand different approaches for measuring air pollutants
Describe how people are normally exposed to air pollution and identify ways to reduce exposure
Understand the ways that air pollution is regulated in the UK
Recognise the links between air pollution and climate change
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.imperial.ac.uk/continuing-professional-development/short-courses/medicine/public-health/...
 
Description Tyre Emissions and Sustainability Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Tyres shed approximately six million tonnes of material per year and are widely recognised as a considerable source of vehicle emissions. A limit on tyre wear is likely to be included in Euro 7 legislation. There is increased scrutiny regarding tyre ingredients and their environmental impact, particularly compounds such as the preservative 6PPD, cited for depleting fish stocks. This workshop engaged both industry experts and academia in sharing their research and perspectives. It resulted in a broadening of awareness from different participant groups and a deeper level of collaboration between industry and academia.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://conferences.emissionsanalytics.com/tyres-eu/
 
Description US Health Effects Institute Workshop on Particulate Matter Research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In the past few decades, research has focused on the question of how the toxicity of particulate matter (PM) varies by source, composition, and size. HEI previously supported the National Particle Component Toxicity (NPACT) Initiative, which involved coordinated epidemiologic and toxicologic studies to evaluate the relative toxicity of various chemical and physical properties of PM. The results indicated that component composition influences health effects, but that there was no "silver bullet" to guide regulatory efforts pointing to specific sources as being more or less toxic than other sources. More recently, HEI's program Assessing Health Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Low Levels of Ambient Air Pollution, funded three large epidemiological studies to evaluate long-term PM exposure and mortality in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The results demonstrated health effects at the lowest observed exposure concentrations, which were below the current regulatory standards in the United States. Now, HEI seeks to embark on the next stage of innovative and policy relevant research on PM health effects. Feedback from HEI sponsors, the Research Committee, and other experts identified several areas of interest, including further evidence of biological plausibility for PM toxicity and disease progression at low doses and a clearer understanding of how peak and long-term average PM exposures influence health effects. Although substantial evidence in support of a causal relationship between short- and long-term exposure to PM and adverse health effects exists, there are several factors that might preempt the justification to further lowering regulatory values. These factors include 1) the lack of mechanistic toxicity studies at low exposures to help explain observed human health effects, 2) insufficient clarity on different personal exposure patterns and their link with specific health effects, 3) how episodic PM exposures affect health, and 4) the evolving nature of PM components. Further clarity on these issues could inform interventions or policies to protect health. To identify specific research needs and priorities for the development of a new research program on PM health effects, HEI will host an invite-only 2-day scoping workshop with leading experts. Deliverables will include a summary document of the workshop findings that will be publicly disseminated for the greater scientific community, and recommendations for critical research needs that are feasible for HEI to address in a 2024 Research Funding Announcement. This workshop focused on research critical for informing policy in the United States where the HEI Core program has a long history of informing policy. However, participants will include experts and stakeholders from around the world.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023