Air pollution is an important preventable cause of illness and disease around the world. Pollution levels in many South East Asian countries are higher than are typically found in the UK and other European countries. In Thailand there are often unhealthy concentrations of ozone and airborne fine particulate matter in cities and towns. These pollutants are mostly caused by road traffic and industrial emissions. The pollution is regularly exacerbated by smoke (haze) from regional forest burning, which mostly affects the northern provinces of Thailand. Indoor air pollution levels are also higher in Thailand and other countries in the region than in the UK, which is partly because of ingress of outdoor pollutants, but is also due to second hand cigarette smoke and emissions from burning of charcoal, incense and other materials. It is important for government, industry and other stakeholders in Thailand to have a good understanding of the health impact from indoor and outdoor pollutants. In particular, the number of people living with disease caused by air pollution and the annual number of premature deaths from air pollutants, linked to the main sources. Knowledge of the health impacts is a prerequisite for developing appropriate intervention strategies to prevent future disease. This project will collect a wide range of already available data on air pollution concentrations, population demographics, along with mortality and morbidity statistics. In addition, we will collect new data on indoor and outdoor pollution in urban and rural residences, and data on the time-activity patterns of a sample of the Thai population using a questionnaire. We will carefully review the published scientific evidence for the associations between air pollutants and health to derive appropriate mathematical relationships that can be used to predict the impact of long-term exposure on the health of the Thai population. In addition, we will produce a model of pollution exposure to the Thai population based on the available data. The health impacts will be expressed as an annual numbers of premature deaths and the total number of population years that are lost or lived with disease (as disability-adjusted life years or DALYS). We will include a range of chronic diseases known to be caused by air pollution and diseases for which the evidence for an association is still emerging, although these data will be reported separately. Importantly, we will explicitly attempt to account for all uncertainties involved in the calculations so that we can express our evaluation in terms of the like range of impacts rather than as single figures. This approach is novel, and will allow us to identify the main sources of uncertainty in our estimates and make recommendations to improve the data available for future evaluations. An important aspect of the project is early engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in Thailand to ensure we take account of a wide range of views and that we gain access to all relevant data. At the end of the project we plan to re-engage with these stakeholders to start a dialogue about possible practical intervention strategies to reduce future risks.

Nanotechnology is a relatively new industry that manufactures very small structures including nanoparticles. A nanoparticle is a thousand times smaller than a red blood cell, which in turn is a thousand times smaller than the head of a pin. Nanoparticles possess properties that can be used to develop exciting products such as self cleaning windows, antibacterial wound dressings, new medicines and exceptionally small electronic devices. Nanoparticles are currently used by consumers in suntan lotion, cosmetics, clothing, cleaning materials, medicines and food, and therefore there is little doubt that people will take them into their body by inhaling, eating or through the skin. Research has shown that inhalation of nanoparticles released in car exhaust fumes increases the risk of hospital admission and death, especially in people who have lung or heart disease. This research has been used to suggest that new types of nanoparticles made by industry should be tested to determine their safety. Some nanoparticles will inevitably be accidentally released into the environment, e.g. nanoparticles from the washing of suntan lotion into waste water and the sea. Nanoparticles are also being developed for intentional release, for example, into polluted soil where their reactivity is used to facilitate the breaking down of pollutants. The impact of releasing nanoparticles into the environment is however unknown. The known antibacterial properties of nanoparticles (exploited in wound dressings) mean that nanoparticles can kill bacteria occurring naturally in the environment, some of which are essential for degradation of vegetation, flesh and waste matter. An impact on these bacteria would clearly effect other species, including humans. Many organisms that live in water, feed by filtering of food particles (e.g. water fleas and mussels), therefore it is possible that they will filter nanoparticles from the environment, leading to entry into the food chain. Some pollutants accumulate in organisms, which once eaten by a predator are passed on along the food chain, sometimes accumulating to a greater extent in the predator (e.g. fish). Some of these species (e.g. fish) form a significant part of the human diet and so we must also consider the unintentional exposure to humans caused by the release of nanoparticles into the environment. Of course, not everything has the capacity to cause harm to the body, as this depends on how much we are exposed to (dose) and how harmful (toxic) the substance is. This means that exposure of humans to nanoparticles may not necessarily cause significant health problems. In order to determine whether this is the case we need to test the toxicity of the particles. This study investigate whether nanoparticles released into water can be taken up by water fleas and fish, and to what levels. The study will then investigate whether humans can absorb nanoparticles from food into their bodies by crossing the gut wall. As nanoparticles are toxic to the lung when inhaled, we will also test whether they are toxic to the cells of the gut when eaten. The liver is one of the first organs encountered when toxins enter the body in food and so we will also investigate the toxicity of nanoparticles to liver cells. The applicants are currently involved in a number of separate, but highly complimentary research projects that are investigating nanoparticle manufacture, measurement of nanoparticles in the environment, and toxicity to different species, but these projects are not co-ordinated or linked. The network of researchers will share their expertise and knowledge to facilitate the work in this proposal and fill some of the gaps in ongoing research projects. The project will create a dynamic and highly capable team for addressing human and environmental health issues relating to nanoparticles and nanotechnology and add considerable value to the existing projects.

Air pollution has figured prominently as one of the environmental crises of the day. There is now a market in consumer air monitors, which makes pollution monitoring more accessible to the public than before. Consumer monitors are distinguished from the pollution monitors used by researchers in terms of cost (these can be many times cheaper than research instruments), user friendliness, and quality (there is great uncertainty about the long-term reliability and accuracy of these monitors). Because of the existing national monitoring stations for air pollution are relatively few, mathematical models are often used to fill in missing data. However, models still require ground-level calibration from monitors, so there is still a need for higher resolution monitoring across space and time for improving model estimates. Establishment of a high resolution monitoring network is still cost-prohibitive. Mobile monitoring is another potential way of obtaining this high resolution data. Citizens could be a form of mobile monitoring, and we will explore the feasibility of developing a campaign to measure air pollution across time and space with citizens as data collectors. We will also explore the possibility of using consumer air monitors to determine whether this effort could be citizen-led, rather than relying on researchers to supply monitoring equipment. We will also explore how people interact with the data collection process and the data they collect, as well as the benefits they receive from this activity, to better incorporate citizen science into future air pollution exposure research.

This proposal aims to do a comprehensive evaluation of air pollution health impacts on cardiopulmonary health through integration of exposure, epidemiology, and toxicology/toxicogenomic studies. We will do detailed assessments of people's exposure to air pollution, estimating exposures for long- and short-term epidemiological analyses, and linking these to epidemiological analyses of long term health impacts based on a cohort study, short-term effects (i.e. biomarkers, blood pressure, heart rhythm, peak flow) based on a panel study, and early life effects based on a birth cohort. Additionally, we test the effect of reducing exposure to fine particles, but not gases, by designing an intervention study where volunteers will wear a face mask and examining the exposure-response relationship for the same short-term effects we evaluate in the panel study. The short-term physiological measurements we conduct in the epidemiological studies will provide insight into the mechanisms by which air pollutions affects cardiopulmonary health. To complement the human based studies into mechanisms of action, our project will also conduct extensive in vivo analyses of mechanistic effects, and early life toxicogenomics/metabonomics. Finally, we will provide practical advice to stakeholders based on our study findings, by assessing the potential value of selected strategies for control of exposure to outdoor health protection in a health risk assessment.

Aerosol science, the study of airborne particles from the nanometre to the millimetre scale, has been increasingly in the public consciousness in recent years, particularly due to the role played by aerosols in the transmission of COVID-19. Vaccines and medications for treating lung and systemic diseases can be delivered by aerosol inhalation, and aerosols are widely used in agricultural and consumer products. Aerosols are a key mediator of poor air quality and respiratory and cardiac health outcomes. Improving human health depends on insights from aerosol science on emission sources and transport, supported by standardised metrology. Similar challenges exist for understanding climate, with aerosol radiative forcing remaining uncertain. Furthermore, aerosol routes to the engineering and manufacture of new materials can provide greener, more sustainable alternatives to conventional approaches and offer routes to new high-performance materials that can sequester carbon dioxide. The physical science underpinning the diverse areas in which aerosols play a role is rarely taught at undergraduate level and the training of postgraduate research students (PGRs) has been fragmentary. This is a consequence of the challenges of fostering the intellectual agility demanded of a multidisciplinary subject in the context of any single academic discipline. To begin to address these challenges, we established the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science in 2019 (CDT2019). CDT2019 has trained 92 PGRs with 40% undertaking industry co-funded research projects, leveraged £7.9M from partners and universities based on an EPSRC investment of £6.9M, and broadened access to our unique training environment to over 400 partner employees and aligned students. CDT2019 revealed strong industrial and governmental demand for researchers in aerosol science. Our vision for CDT2024 is to deliver a CDT that 'meets user needs' and expands the reach and impact of our training and research in the cross-cutting EPSRC theme of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, specifically in areas where aerosol science is key. The Centre brings together an academic team from the Universities of Bristol (the hub), Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Hertfordshire, Manchester, Surrey and Imperial College London spanning science, engineering, medical, and health faculties. We will assemble a multidisciplinary team of supervisors with expertise in chemistry, physics, chemical and mechanical engineering, life and medical sciences, and environmental sciences, providing the broad perspective necessary to equip PGRs to address the challenges in aerosol science that fall at the boundaries between these disciplines. To meet user needs, we will devise and adopt an innovative Open CDT model. We will build on our collaboration of institutions and 80 industrial, public and third sector partners, working with affiliated academics and learned societies to widen global access to our training and catalyse transformative research, establishing the CDT as the leading global centre for excellence in aerosol science. Broadly, we will: (1) Train over 90 PGRs in the physical science of aerosols equipping 5 cohorts of graduates with the professional agility to tackle the technical challenges our partners are addressing; (2) Provide opportunities for Continuing Professional Development for partner employees, including a PhD by work-based, part-time study; (3) Deliver research for end-users through partner-funded PhDs with collaborating academics, accelerating knowledge exchange through PGR placements in partner workplaces; (4) Support the growth of an international network of partners working in aerosol science through focus meetings, conferences and training. Partners and academics will work together to deliver training to our cohorts, including in the areas of responsible innovation, entrepreneurship, policy, regulation, environmental sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion.