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“Is there a correlation between high levels of air pollutions in semi-rural areas and hospitalisation of COPD patients?”

RESEARCH LOOKS AT AIR POLLUTION IMPACTS IN AND GALLOWAY AND AYRSHIRE

BY JOHN BYNORTH Image of Castle of St John, Stranraer, courtesy of Dr Iain McLellan

ANYONE without an in-depth knowledge of air quality issues could be forgiven for believing that the health impacts of pollution are confined to cities.

The health risks from transport emissions, particularly in urban areas have been well documented, but what effect do air pollutants have on people living in semi-rural towns and communities.

Work has started on a study which aims to explore links between PM2.5 PM10 NO2 O3 and high rates of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in and Ayrshire.

PhD student Carly Woods of the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) wants to understand why COPD is more prevalent in these areas. Rates of cigarette smoking, one of the main causes of emphysema and chronic bronchitis, are no higher than elsewhere, so what could be causing this?

The initiative is part of a multi-disciplinary project which involves two other higher education institutions.

The Border and Regions Airways Training Hub (BREATH) is funded by €7.7 million from the EU INTERREG VA programme in a consortium between the UWS, Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) and Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB).

Ms Woods said: “There have been a number of studies in large cities, but it definitely seems like there is a lack of understanding when looking at health impacts of air pollution in semi-rural areas. Around 20% of COPD cases are not related to smoking across the UK. We are seeking to find out if there is a correlation between high levels of air pollutants in semi-rural areas and prevalence of COPD

Ms Woods is being overseen by her Lead Supervisor at UWS, Dr Iain McLellan, who has a long-standing interest in air quality policy and research and supported by colleagues across different disciplines.

The project is initially focusing on Stranraer as there may be synergies with sea salt, NOx, ozone and PM and will be using relatively low cost equipment such as AQ Mesh, pictured below, portable electronic diffusion tubes, air pumps and filter paper to provide good quality data. In particular Carly is collecting PM10 and PM2.5 from different areas (urban and semi-rural) to see if there any differences in metal composition.

Dr McLellan said: “This will give us an indication as to the source of the matter and whether it comes from agriculture, shipping or road transport.

There is an emphasis is on citizen science and UWS will be working with local primary and secondary pupils by providing monitoring equipment using the diffusion tubes to measure real-time ambient air quality at their schools.

Ms Woods, pictured right, added: “Citizen science is an important part of our particular project and the BREATH initiative. Team members are going into schools, teaching pupils about COPD and the children are participating in challenges which allows them to win a BREATH award for the school.

“Additionally, we will set up an electronic tablet to allow secondary school pupils to download and analyse real-time NO2 readings as part of their classroom projects.”

“It seems that most people we talk to in schools don’t realise poor air quality could potentially be a problem in semi- rural areas. Dr McLellan added an important caveat to the on-going study: “COPD takes many years to form and someone who breathes in PM today will not suffer from a related condition a few weeks later, but over a matter of years,” he said.

“We are looking at current pollution levels, but Carly has to consider previous history and past exposure that people have had to poor air quality from agriculture, shipping and transport.”

Colleagues in the BREATH project at Queen’s University are conducting a study the pollutants within cigarette smoke and links to COPD. It is currently estimated that around 20% of cases of COPD in the UK are not smoking related.

Dr McLellan hopes the findings of the three year study will be of use to the Scottish Government’s Cleaner Air For Scotland (CAFS) strategy, especially as tackling pesticides and other agriculture emissions is an important part of the on-going independent CAFS Review.

The project has engaged with local MSPs , Finlay Carson and Joan McAlpine in addition to cross- parliamentary groups at the . Dr McLellan added: “This study comes at the right time for policy and research.”

Environmental Protection Scotland working for a cleaner, quieter, healthier and sustainable Scotland 2 Dr McLellan, who is an EPS trustee and sits on the air quality expert advisory group added: “I would love to see some focus, not just on the locations where there is a problem, but in areas where there is not generally perceived to be a problem.”

The work is being supervised at UWS by Professor Andrew Hursthouse, who specialises in environmental air pollution (and an EPS trustee), Professor John Lockhart and Dr Gary Litherland, both of whom represent the study’s biological interests, with partner institution supervisors Dr Fionnuala Lundy at QUB and Dr Gerard Sergeant (DkIT)

The results are expected to be published over a period of time and there will be BREATH publications and output in academic journals.

Ms Woods added: “Everybody who’s come into contact with the BREATH project is very interested in the work and this is very encouraging as we go out into communities to promote it. It’s important to raise awareness of what we are doing and hopefully that knowledge helps alleviate the disease burden too.”

Dr McLellan added: “It’s an exciting time and Carly is doing a fantastic job.”

For more information on the project please contact Dr McLellan: [email protected]

Environmental Protection Scotland working for a cleaner, quieter, healthier and sustainable Scotland 3