Clean air for all? Air pollution, deprivation and health.

Globally, more than 4 million people die early every year because of poor outdoor air quality; in the UK DEFRA have identified poor air quality as the largest environmental health risk, contributing to chronic illness and shortening life expectancy. DEFRA also note that deprived communities are more likely to be exposed to poor air quality than affluent ones. The strongest evidence for adverse health effects relates to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM, specifically PM2.5), with COMEAP (Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution) quantifying its impact as equivalent to 340,000 life years lost. A recent COMEAP/BHF report notes the strengthening evidence for the link between PM2.5 and CVD (Cardiovascular Disease), but also identifies the need for more refined exposure estimates at urban, local and personal levels. Working with Nottingham City Council (NCC), this project will address that challenge by exploring the changing spatial and temporal distribution of PM2.5 across the City of Nottingham using available monitoring data and a high-resolution urban air quality model (ADMS-URBAN).
These data will be combined with a) general practice (GP) reports of CVD and hospital admissions data and b) deprivation indices by Lower-layer Super Output Area (LLSOA) to investigate links between air pollution and health in more and less deprived parts of the city, looking at both long and short term pollution exposure. The project will link to ongoing work by UoN on air pollution and health in China to add an international dimension. Given commitments at national and local authority level to improve air quality and the fact that Public Health England suggest that even small reductions in PM2.5 concentrations may be effective at reducing CVD, the project will also explore the impact of recent and potential changes in traffic management across the city in relation to delivering a healthy environment.