Welcome
Welcome to the National Institute for Health and Care Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Environmental Exposures and Health at Imperial College London.
This HPRU is a partnership between Imperial College London and the UK Health Security Agency, in collaboration with King’s College London and the MRC Toxicology Unit, Cambridge.
We have strong links with the Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards HPRU and the MRC Centre for Environment and Health and to ensure we operate as a highly collaborative matrix, analogous to the UK Health Security Agency’s multi-functional, single-agency model, we have created a Joint Steering Committee, Training Programme Committee, Public and Community Involvement, Engagement and Participation Committee and Public and Community Oversight Group.
This HPRU brings together our expertise in air quality measurement and modelling, exposure assessment, conducting large-scale epidemiological studies, biomarkers and disease mechanisms and chemical toxicology of fibres and particles to produce the scientific evidence needed to support the effective protection of the population from these environmental hazards.
Mission
The mission of this HPRU is to undertake the highest quality research on the health effects associated with exposure to a range of environmental pollutants, including those in the ambient and indoor settings. Our aims are to improve the understanding of the distribution, determinants and pathways linking these exposures to health effects, to provide scientific evidence that will impact directly on public health practice and policy, and to train the next generation of research leaders in environment and health.
Research
The research programme is organised into four complementary themes focusing on furthering understanding of the risk of ambient and indoor air pollutants on health, by examining a range of adverse endpoints in specific population subgroups (e.g. adverse birth outcomes and cognitive function in school children) and in specific locations (indoor, homes and offices, transport micro-environments including the London Underground).
In addition, we will look at emerging exposure issues including e-cigarettes, microplastics, illicit and herbal drug use and brake and tyre wear toxicology.
Theme I - Challenges
1. What are the exposures to toxicants from all environmental sources and consumer products in different populations?
2. Can models be developed to predict exposure?
3. What is the public perception of risk from these toxicants and how are potential risks best communicated?
Theme III - Challenges
1. What biomarkers emerge following acute exposure to different air pollutants and do they discriminate between different sources?
2. Are non-exhaust PM emissions (brake, tyre and road wear) of toxicological relevance and what are the relative toxicities of exhaust PM and NO2?
3. What are the relative toxicities of e-cigarette components?
Theme II - Challenges
1. What are the impacts of air pollution on birth outcomes, cognitive development, mental health and dementia in later life ?
2. What are the impacts of traffic related air pollution on school children’s neurodevelopment and overall health and to what extent does the ULEZ mitigate against any adverse effects ?
3. What, if any, is the impact of air pollution on the London Underground?
Theme IV - Challenges
1. Do microplastics have detrimental human health effects?
2. What are the potential health consequences of waste fires on local populations?
3. What are the health impacts of living near biomass electricity generating installations or being exposed to waste fire emissions?
Latest News
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Changing behaviour to change the world
Posted on May 15, 2022Continue readingProfessor Frank Kelly, Battcock Chair in Community Health and Policy at Imperial College London, joins influential panel discussion on behaviour change. Read more.
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Dr Sean Beavers, Imperial College London talks to Channel 4 News
Posted on April 29, 2022Continue readingDr Sean Beavers of the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London, spoke to Channel 4 News about the high % of homes breathing ‘unsafe’ air. Watch the recording here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpR80-QIRvY
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Prevention of Future Deaths Press Conference
Posted on April 27, 2022Continue readingIt is one year since Coroner Philip Barlow published the Prevention of Future Deaths Report following the landmark ruling that air pollution contributed to 9 year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s death from severe asthma. The PFD Report recommended three key areas of focus: the implementation of legal air pollution limits based on WHO guidelines, a public awareness campaign on […]
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Law needs to protect UK from spring air pollution increase
Posted on April 25, 2022Continue readingDr David Green from the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London comments on the contributions of pollution from traffic and other sources. Read more in the article from The Guardian.
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Wafting away the big smoke: Battling air pollution in the capital
Posted on April 12, 2022Continue readingAs part of Sustainability Week, Imperial hosted a panel session to discuss how to tackle air pollution on campus and in the wider London area. Read more here.
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Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London – Beech Street NO2 levels Zero Emission
Posted on March 30, 2022Continue readingLouise Mittal from the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London, quotes NO2 levels in Beech Street, a tunnel under the Barbican Estate in the Evening Standard. For the full independent report ‘Air quality effects of the implementation and removal of zero emission street restrictions at Beech Street in the City of London’ by Louse, […]