Title: LWEC EEHI: Traffic Pollution and Health in London
Funder: Department of Health (England)

Abstract: Introduction Urbanisation and dependence on motorised transport has increased population exposure to traffic hazards. Traumatic injuries aside, these include toxic air pollutants and noise (which we refer to as traffic pollution) for which there is increasing evidence for adverse health effects. Near-road pollution is a complex mixture of particle and gas phase components that are influenced by both exhaust and non-exhaust vehicle emissions, resuspension of road dust, atmospheric processes and photochemical reactions. To achieve more effective traffic management policies and reduce the public health burden, it will be necessary to develop more realistic, flexible and sophisticated approaches to exposure assessment. Important gaps and uncertainties exist in our understanding of health effects of traffic pollution (Health Effects Institute [HEI], 2010). First, there is an inadequate understanding of patterns of human exposure to traffic and a lack of adequate models with which to evaluate the exposure implications of urban transport and land use policies. Second, the evidence for adverse health effects of traffic pollution is not coherent and there is an incomplete understanding of the relative roles of air pollution and other factors such as noise that are associated with living near a busy road. Third, there is a lack of mechanistic evidence with which to interpret epidemiological evidence. Fourth, there is a lack of exposure response relationships specific to exposure from traffic sources with which to evaluate the health impacts of traffic and transport policies. Why these investigators? To address these questions we have assembled an experienced multidisciplinary team representing exposure science, air quality and noise modelling, toxicology, statistics and epidemiology. The theme “Air Pollution and Health” is one of the two major themes of the newly established MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health. A major goal of the Centre is to integrate the exposure, epidemiological, toxicological and statistical sciences to advance understanding of the components and reaction products arising from traffic that impact on health. This will be the first application which links all three Centre institutions. Why London? The advantages of London include: (a) having the most challenging traffic problems in the UK; (b) the highest urban air pollution levels in the UK including an inability to meet EU limit values for PM10 and NO2; (c) the availability of a number of rich data sources of journey patterns such as the London Travel Demand Survey (LTDS) and Oyster Card dataset; (d) the availability of the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI), the London air quality network (LAQN; the most extensive urban monitoring network in Europe, recently supplemented with additional equipment and resource via the NERC ClearfLo project) and the London Air Quality Dispersion Model (LAQDM) and (e) an existing team of scientists who have already worked successfully together on evaluating traffic projects in London (London Congestion Charging, HEI 2010; London Low Emission Zone [LEZ], HEI 2010; Atkinson et al, 2009; Tonne et al, 2008) and (g) a unique range of health outcome data spanning the life course from birth to death in a large population of around 8 million. The latter are the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE) Study, the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) databases of mortality, hospital admissions and births from national registers, the Myocardial Ischaemia Audit Project (MINAP) and the General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Objectives The Objectives are to describe and understand the patterns of exposure of the population to traffic pollution and their relationships to health. The deliverables from this programme of research will be: 1. An improved understanding of the relative toxicity of air pollution from traffic sources using in vitro studies of oxidative potential linked with time-series studies of daily mortality and morbidity. 2. The development of a hybrid model of exposure to traffic pollution that can be interrogated to evaluate the exposure implications of different transport policy scenarios and be used as an input to health risk assessment. 3. Quantification of the relationships between traffic pollution and a suite of health outcomes: mortality, hospital admissions, acute coronary syndrome, use of primary care, adverse birth outcomes and early markers of cardiovascular disease in children. NERC Reference: NE/I008039/1 Page 1 of 12 Page 2 – Traffic Pollution and Health in London How do these Objectives meet the requirements in the call document and the feed-back received? The work proposed maps closely to the strategic objectives of the EEH call and builds substantially on existing air quality and health data systems Within it there are studies that will advance science and policy relating to traffic exposure and associated public health hazards in innovative ways. That the combination of studies is within one city is unparalleled, and adds further strength. The results will have direct relevance to policy through understanding patterns of exposure in the population, toxicity, hazards and exposure response relationships. The addition of Martin Williams to the team will ensure focus on this issue. In response to comments we have included experts in noise (Margaret Bell) and vulnerability (Cathryn Tonne). The interdisciplinary nature of the collaboration will bring added value to the results by developing new ways of thinking and enabling connections between different methodologies. Each of the three Objectives will be addressed in a Work Package as shown below. Each team will draw upon the expertise of the three Core facilities as required and the cross-cutting themes of policy relevance and vulnerability will provide integration across the project.


Research activity codes: 2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT;2.5 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: RESPIRATORY;CARDIOVASCULAR