The University of Brighton, in partnership with GLA and the Flemish Environment Agency (VMM), the Dutch Health Protection Agency in Amsterdam (GGDA) and various other French, Dutch and Belgium partners has won an EU INTERREG project (JOAQUIN) to investigate and inform people about the effects of ultrafine air pollution on health.

Part of our remit for this project is to inform the policy makers and the public of the effects of air pollution on their health and the positive impact they can have to reduce pollution.

Air quality is an important issue for many councils in the UK. For example, Brighton & Hove City council are currently breaching national air quality standards for NO2 (along with a lot of other cities in the UK and Europe). A recent report by the Committee of the Medical Effects of Air pollutants found that the risk of dying from a heart or breathing related illness increased by 9% with every 10 microgram increase in particulates less than 2.5 microns (to put this in perspective, this is approximately 1/300th the diameter of a human hair). In addition we know that poor air quality results in more than 32,000 premature deaths in the UK each year. These deaths could be avoided in measures were put in place to reduce air pollution levels.

We don’t want to preach though; rather we want to encourage further thinking and behavioural change with regard to transport modes. For example, you are exposed to more air pollution while in a car than you are on a bicycle, even if you are cycling in heavy traffic, plus cycling has additional health benefits in reducing blood pressure, the risk of heart attacks and extending life.

The University of Brighton will be exhibiting their research at The Eco Technology Show on the 26th and 27th June.