Title: Assessing Mitigation Pathways to Realise Public Health Benefits of Air Pollutant Emission Reductions from Agriculture (AMPHoRA)
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Our project title is “Assessing Mitigation Pathways to Realise Public Health Benefits of Air Pollutant Emission Reductions from Agriculture” (AMPHoRA). In AMPHoRA, we want to better understand, how air pollution is linked to food and agriculture. We will work with farmers and citizens to find the best policy options to improve health and reduce air pollution from agriculture._x000D_ _x000D_ Agriculture causes a lot of air pollution in the UK and many other countries. The pollution comes from emissions from livestock like cows and pigs, and from using fertilizer to grow crops. The pollution takes the form of fine particles which are too small to see, but can get deep into our lungs. This can lead to health problems such as heart and lung disease, type II diabetes and cause premature death. Policies like the Clean Air Strategy recognise the need for more actions to reduce pollution from agriculture. _x000D_ _x000D_ AMPHoRA aims to produce practical solutions to reduce these emissions and improve air quality. We will look at past and future government policy options for agriculture. We will review how they have worked in the past to reduce agriculture-related air pollution. We will also look at how these actions have supported healthy eating as well as any extra costs and benefits for the community._x000D_ _x000D_ First, we will review better ways to use new agricultural technology and better manage our land. Also, we find out which factors influence our food choices. We will then look at how changes affect air pollution, UK diets and nutrition and greenhouse gas emissions. We will try to understand how lower air pollution and better diets lead to better public health. Moreover, we will look at costs to find out whether the benefits to health, society and the environment will outweigh the cost of any changes. _x000D_ _x000D_ We will work with farmers, health experts, policy makers and regulators from the very beginning. Our AMPHoRA team aims to create a common understanding of the challenges and possible solutions. This way, everyone will better understand the role of agricultural emissions in creating harmful fine particles. By developing this common understanding with the community, we will identify new ideas and actions. We will assess the benefits and any unexpected, negative effects of these actions, for both old and the new policies. As a result, we will realise public benefits such as reduced health costs, improved well-being and reduced farm emissions. Our aim is to produce solutions that will work in real life situations for people by the end of our project._x000D_ _x000D_ We will share our research and data on agricultural activities with the farming community and citizens in workshops. The results of these workshops will help us improve the way we model future emissions from agriculture. Our health experts will then calculate how these changes in emissions will lead to better health in the future. Finally, we will use the improvements in health to find out, how much costs can be saved in the health sector.

Lay abstract: Agriculture is a leading contributor to fine particle air pollution (PM2.5) in the UK, mainly arising from ammonia emissions relating to livestock (especially cattle) farming, with smaller contributions from arable agriculture. These emissions are indirectly responsible for appreciable adverse impacts on human health (e.g. coronary heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes, and cancers), as well as contributing to eutrophication of the semi-natural environment reducing plant biodiversity. DEFRA’s Clean Air Strategy has thus set explicit objectives to substantially reduce ammonia emissions and other agricultural air pollutants._x000D_ AMPHoRA (Assessing Mitigation Pathways to Realise Public Health Benefits of Air Pollutant Emission Reductions from Agriculture) aims to quantify the impact of past and future actions aimed at such emissions reductions. It will examine how these actions can best be aligned with the steps needed to achieve vital objectives for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in the agriculture sector, and improve diets for human health and well-being – as emphasised e.g. by the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health._x000D_ Through evidence synthesis, data analysis and modelling, AMPHoRA will undertake an integrated assessment of the health costs and benefits of policy interventions, including changes to agricultural production processes and measures aimed at influencing dietary patterns. It will assess such policies in terms of health impacts relating to consequent changes to primary and secondary species of fine particulate matter, and with respect to wider sustainability objectives (specifically GHG emissions), diet-related health outcomes and health inequalities._x000D_ The project’s specific objectives are to: _x000D_ 1) convene a multi-stakeholder group - comprising government departments/agencies, food and agriculture industry experts, the public, third sector organisations and academics - to delineate existing and potential future regulations and policies with potential to reduce air pollutants emissions and GHGs through changes to (i) agricultural technology and land-use management, and (ii) factors influencing dietary patterns;_x000D_ 2) quantify impacts of such policy/regulation interventions, especially those aimed at influencing food consumption, on UK dietary patterns in terms of key nutritional constituents and fulfilment of nutritional needs under a range of assumptions;_x000D_ 3) quantify impacts of such policies on air pollutants, GHGs and population-weighted ambient concentrations of PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone, now and in future, under policy scenarios defined in (1);_x000D_ 4) develop and apply models of health impacts capturing mortality and morbidity benefits/harms of changes in air quality of food/agriculture interventions (both existing and potential policies), and of the associated dietary changes and other environmental impacts where relevant;_x000D_ 5) compare policies over time horizons up to 2050 using a multi-criteria assessment framework with criteria developed with the multi-stakeholder group (likely to include fulfilment of air pollution goals, health differentials, GHGs targets, economic costs);_x000D_ 6) assess implications of these analyses for national and local policy and implementation, accounting for real-world constraints and opportunities through an iterative cycle of stakeholder engagements._x000D_ In this way AMPHoRA will make a substantive contribution to integrated interdisciplinary research on human & environmental health.

Research activity codes: 3.2 INTERVENTIONS TO ALTER PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Health categories: RESPIRATORY;GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE