Creating just, healthy cities: challenging inequalities in health deprivation from air pollution in minority communities

This project aims to investigate emerging issues around exposure to air pollution and wide spread disease and inequalities in society, namely, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and access to health/welfare support. In particular, this research aims to focus on volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a group of air pollutants which are largely unregulated, and with limited monitoring.
Research Questions-1: Are members of UK lower income and/or BAME communities exposed to higher levels of air pollution (VOCs) than other demographics; are these citizens being relatively disadvantaged by current UK planning (housing), social welfare and health policies; and how could health and air pollution policies be adjusted to mitigate this?
Research Questions-2: Can modelling techniques accurately predict the VOC concentrations at unmeasured locations in order to improve the spatial resolution of VOC exposure assessment tools in Leicester?
Research Questions-3: Do linkages exist (in existing data) between air pollution (VOC) exposure, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and access to health/welfare support, and outcome and severity of health conditions in Leicester, UK?
Early research within the UK into the relationship between air pollution exposure and deprivation identified these geographical and socio-economic inequalities for common outdoor air pollutants such as, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM), and sulphur dioxide (SO2). Common themes showed that areas of higher poverty, more ethnic diversity, and increased overall deprivation experienced higher air pollution exposure. Currently no research has focused on inequalities in exposure to VOCs specifically within the UK. Moreover, research showing the adverse health effects of exposure to VOCs highlights the importance of identifying inequalities in exposure and potential subsequent health outcomes.
This PhD aims to address this research gap using quantitative and qualitative techniques to investigate linkages between VOCs, deprivation, socio-economic descriptors, and health outcomes. This is to help understand the impacts of key policies on low-income and BAME communities, identifying potential VOC pollution sources, and highlight key negative health outcomes associated with VOC exposure.