The Biological Effects of Shipping-Related Particulate Matter Air Pollution

Outdoor air pollution kills over 3 million people worldwide every year, and 40,000 per year in the UK alone, taking 6 months off the life of the average person. In order to improve our chances of ageing healthily, we need to understand better how air pollution exerts its damaging effects. The component of air pollution most strongly linked to ill-health and death is airborne dust, also known as particulate matter (PM) which is invisible to the naked eye. This PM comes from a variety of sources, such as vehicle exhaust, combustion, erosion of soil by the wind, and sea spray. In turn, the composition of the particles, their size, and shape, depends on where they come from. PM deposits on the cells which line our airways and the air sacs in our lungs, called epithelial cells, and can then affect their functioning. Moreover, PM may potentially enter the cells and cross into the bloodstream. PM can cause sore throat, itchy eyes, cough, and wheezing, but has also been linked to asthma, heart attacks, stroke, and lung cancer.
The source and chemical composition of PM is thought to be important in understanding the effects of PM, and therefore we need to investigate a range of sources of PM. One such source is shipping and associated activities. Emissions from ships are thought to kill 60-70,000 people per year worldwide. In addition to ship emissions, dock areas are associated with heavy goods vehicles carrying freight, oil refining, and scrap metal handling. Therefore, there are a number of potential sources of PM, with research needed to understand their differing effects.
This study will involve the collection of airborne PM from a number of different sites across Southampton docks. I will analyse the elements and molecules which make up the PM, with special attention to the levels of metals and carbon-based molecules, both of which have been linked to especially damaging effects. Following this, two models to represent the airways will be constructed in the laboratory. Firstly, epithelial cells from the tubes which carry air into the lungs will be grown and exposed to the PM, using different amounts of PM and exposing the cells for different lengths of time. The release of molecules indicating inflammation will be measured, as will the death of cells as a result of PM exposure. Secondly, epithelial cells which line the air sacs in the lungs, and form the surface across which oxygen enters the blood from the lungs, will be grown in close proximity to the cells which line the blood vessels of the lungs (endothelial cells). A high-powered microscope called an electron microscope will be used to assess the extent to which the particles enter the epithelial and endothelial cells, or the gaps between the cells. This will indicate whether the airborne PM might have the ability to enter the bloodstream. In each case, differences in the responses of cells to the PM will be related to the different sources and composition of the particles.
Finally, epithelial cells brushed from the airways of volunteers and then grown in the laboratory will be exposed to PM, and changes in levels of molecules called RNAs will be measured. These RNAs represent the cell taking information from its DNA, and converting it to a more useable form, so by measuring millions of RNA molecules in the cells, we can get a much better idea of exactly how the cell is responding to PM. This process can give us excellent insight into the mechanisms of these responses, and might shed new light on changes which occur after we inhale PM. Again, the changes will be related to the different types of PM. We hope that in the future, we might be able to use these changes as "markers" to identify people at risk of the effects of PM. The overall results of the project will give us valuable new information about the different sources of PM around dock areas, the PM composition, and which PM sources might present the greatest risk to our chances of ageing healthily.

Ambient air pollution has been linked to over 3 million deaths per year worldwide, with effects linked most strongly to particulate matter (PM), which originates from a variety of sources. The composition and size of PM, which depend on the source and generation process, are both thought to influence effects on cells. Emissions from ships have been linked to 60-70,000 deaths per year, especially in coastal areas. Although activities in ports are known to significantly influence the surrounding air, there is little known about the effects on such PM on airway and lung cells, which are the major site of deposition. The first part of this project involves the collection of size fractionated PM10-2.5, PM2.5-0.1, and PM0.1, from sites around Southampton docks, including those with rail and road vehicle activity, cruise and cargo ship berthing, and metal scrapping. Particle composition will be analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for metals, gas chromatography-MS for organic carbon, and ion chromatography, with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for particle morphology. Cultures of the bronchial epithelial cell line 16HBE will be exposed to different PM types, and cell death and inflammatory mediator release will be quantified by ELISA. Subsequent testing will use differentiated mucociliary cultures of primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBECs) grown at air-liquid interface. An alveolar type I-like cell line will be cultured similarly, and exposed to PM0.1, so that particle entry and potential translocation across the alveoli can be determined by transmission EM. Finally, PBEC cultures (as above) exposed to different PM types will undergo RNAseq used to determine transcriptomic changes, in a hypothesis-free approach. Experimental data will be analysed with respect to particle chemistry, size, and source, in order to better understand the effects of shipping-related PM, and to determine which sources might perturb cellular function the most.

Air pollution is a major cause of ill health, with ambient (non-occupational) particulate matter (PM), household air pollution, and ambient ozone suggested to cause 6.9 million deaths/year worldwide. Ambient PM is ranked as the 9th highest risk factor for life expectancy worldwide, responsible for 40,000 deaths/year in the UK according to a recent report by the Royal College of Physicians, "Every Breath You Take". Those most affected by such pollution are residents of polluted areas, and people who work in/near affected areas. Local residents groups, with whom I have had repeated contact, are concerned about the effects the docks have on air quality in Southampton. This is especially important for those living in the vicinity of the docks. Furthermore, there is the potential for risks to the health of workers undertaking various tasks at the docks, and so the findings of the proposed work may be of interest to them and their representative trades unions. Associated with this, information which suggests particular sources of pollution are potentially harmful may prove useful to medical practitioners, when trying to assess health risks or the influence of exposure history on a patient's health. However, the results are not only applicable to people living or working near Southampton docks, but would equally apply to people in similar circumstances elsewhere in the world. Indeed, it is my plan in the longer term, after the conclusion of this Fellowship, to carry out similar investigations at docks in other countries, especially those which experience air quality levels worse than those in the UK, and where maritime Emissions Control Areas do not operate.
The results are also likely to be of interest to the groups who are in charge of the activities which contribute to the pollution - Associated British Ports (ABP), who control the docks, as well as individual shipping and haulage companies may all be interested in the ramifications of the research, both from the point of view of understanding the effects that their activities may have, and also to better understand how to protect workers and local residents, whether by increased use of personal protective equipment for workers, or by attempts to reduce emissions at source, which may depend on the activity being undertaken. Of course, in the event that data indicate that that legal limits for airborne dust are being breached, this research may provide impetus to the company responsible to organise further monitoring and enact preventative measures.
A "Clean Air Zone" is shortly to be introduced by Southampton City Council to reduce vehicular emissions in the centre of the city. However, the contribution of the docks to the city's air quality is not known. This study will provide an indication as to whether further work on this matter needs to be carried out, and potentially which aspects of the docks it should focus on. Marine-related air pollution is also of interest to Lloyd's Register (LR). LR provide consultancy to maritime companies/agencies and, since this research is novel in terms of its study of the effects of PM from various dock-related activities, it is likely to be of potential interest to them in terms of understanding the potential effects of shipping-related activities on local air quality and human health. This also applies to the International Maritime Organisation, who have introduced regulations on engine emissions and fuel composition, but with questions remaining regarding the appropriateness of the regulations and whether the correct surrogates for monitoring have been chosen, and also the matter of their enforcement. There may also be some impact regarding the legal burden of responsibility for pollution abatement and adherence to/monitoring of shipping regulations - indeed, I have already discussed this matter with maritime law experts and plan to do so further in the future.