Workplace lifecycle exposure and health risk for Advanced Materials

Advanced materials are defined as engineered materials that either by processing, or the way they are made, create materials with novel functionality and properties compared to conventional materials. They are critical to the future economic needs of the UK. However, some concerns have been raised about potential risks to health from inhalation or ingestion of hazardous particulate substances during manufacturing, processing and use. In this project, the student will:

1) Review the literature to gather information on the potential toxicity and health effects of aerosols emitted during the manufacturing or processing of advanced composite materials;

2) Develop methods to monitor and characterise aerosol emissions and exposure in the workplace;

The student will investigate methods to quantify and characterise particle emissions during laboratory simulation scenarios (e.g. in a wind tunnel) or workplace site visits (e.g. small lab performing cell culture with advanced material suspension or preparing dry samples for material characterisation, large scale lab at the Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre (GEIC), large scale workshop area at the Henry Royce Institute, Advanced Materials and Research Centre (AMRC) and industry workplaces).

The characterisation of the airborne particles emissions will be performed using diverse established off-line analytical techniques (e.g. using Electron Microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Thermal gravimetric analysis). The student will also explore other emerging or cost-effective techniques. The potential toxicological activities of these airborne particles will also be investigated using fluorescent or colorimetric dyes to detect Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) or Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (generation of free radicals by materials in a non-biological environment).

3) Measure emissions and exposure in the workplace or from simulated tasks in a laboratory controlled environment.

The student will engage with industry to understand tasks where in the workplace lifecycle of composites, aerosol emissions are likely to be significant. The student will gather emission and exposure data and consider those in the context of particle emission and their potential toxicity for risk assessment. These data will also inform the work of toxicologists ensuring that in future such tests are carried out using relevant exposure dose and duration metrics.

This PhD will be conducted as collaboration between the University of Manchester (UoM), the National Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials (hub building based in Manchester) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This PhD project will have strong interactions with industry and stakeholder's expert bodies.

Aerosol science has a significant impact on a broad range of disciplines, extending from inhaled drug delivery, to combustion science and its health impacts, aerosol assisted routes to materials, climate change, and the delivery of agricultural and consumer products. Estimates of the global aerosol market size suggest it will reach $84 billion/year by 2024 with products in the personal care, household, automotive, food, paints and medical sectors. Air pollution leads to an estimated 30-40,000 premature deaths each year in the UK, and aerosols transmit human and animal infections. More than 12 million people in the UK live with lung disease such as asthma, and the NHS spends ~£5 billion/year on respiratory therapies. Many of the technological, societal and health challenges central to these areas rely on core skills and knowledge of aerosol science. Despite this, an Industrial Workshop and online survey (held in preparation for this bid) highlighted the current doctoral skills gap in aerosol science in the UK. Participating industries reported that only 15% of their employees working with aerosol science at doctoral-level having received any formal training. A CDT in aerosol science, CAS, will fill this skills gap, impacting on all areas of science where core training in aerosol science is crucial.

Impact on the UK aerosol community: Aerosol scientists work across governmental policy, industrial research and innovation, and in academia. Despite the considerable overlap in training needs for researchers working in these diverse sectors, current doctoral training in aerosol science is fragmentary and ad hoc (e.g. the annual Fundamentals of Aerosol Science course delivered by the Aerosol Society). In addition, training occurs within the context of individual disciplines, reinforcing artificial subject boundaries. CAS will bring coherence to training in the core physical and engineering science of aerosols, catalysing new synergies in research, and providing a focal point for training a multidisciplinary community of researchers. Working with the Aerosol Society, we will establish a legacy by providing training resources for future researchers through an online training portal.

Impact on industry and public-sector partners: 45 organisations have indicated they will act as CAS partners with interests in respiratory therapies, public health, materials manufacturing, consumer and agricultural products, instrumentation, emissions and environment. Establishing CAS will deliver researchers with the necessary skills to ensure the UK establishes and sustains a scientific and technical lead in their sectors. Further, it will provide an ideal mechanism for delivering Continuing Professional Development for the existing workforce practitioners. The activity of CAS is aligned to the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (e.g. through developing new healthcare technologies and new materials) and the EPSRC Prosperity Outcomes of a productive, healthy (e.g. novel treatments for respiratory disease) and resilient (e.g. adaptations to climate change, air quality) nation, with both the skilled researchers and their science naturally translating to long-lasting impact. Additionally, rigorous training in responsible innovation and ethical standards will lead to aerosol researchers able to contribute to developing: regulatory standards for medicines; policy on air quality and climate geoengineering; and regulations on manufactured nano-materials.

Public engagement: CAS will provide a focal point for engaging the public on topics in aerosol science that affect our daily lives (consumer products, materials) through to our health (inhalation therapeutics, disease transmission and impacts of pollution) and the future of our planet (geoengineering). Supported by a rigorous doctoral level training in aerosol science, this next generation of researchers will be ideally positioned to lead debates on all of these societal and technological challenges.