Is your environment damaging your health? New Centre aims to find out

New £5m MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health at Imperial College London and King's College London is launched<em> - News Release</em>

For immediate release
Monday 1 June 2009

The damage that our modern living and working environment could be doing to our health will be investigated by a new £5M MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health at Imperial College London and King's College London, which launches today.

The new Centre will analyse the health of people across the UK and how this is affected by aspects of the environment in which they live and work, from traffic fumes and noise from overhead aircraft, to chemicals in the environment such as the by-products of disinfection in the water supply.

The Centre will particularly focus on vulnerable people, including children and the elderly, and how environmental factors outside their control could be increasing their risk of respiratory problems, heart disease and cancer.

The Centre is core funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA), with the two universities funding new posts and studentships. Its researchers will be working with the HPA so that if their work reveals a new health risk, the HPA can take account of the Centre's findings in its advice to government.

Researchers estimate that air pollution alone could be causing several thousands of people to be admitted to hospital and die prematurely each year, because of the damage minute particles of pollutants could do to the heart and lungs.

However, there is currently limited evidence about the effects of most pollutants on people's health, because much of the relevant data comes from animal studies. Humans are typically exposed to low doses of pollutants, often acting in combination, over long periods of time. This makes their effects difficult to measure.

The new Centre will conduct epidemiological studies of large numbers of people and analyse in detail which pollutants they are exposed to during their daily lives. Its researchers will use new tools in areas such as mapping, modelling, toxicology, genomics, proteomics and metabonomics to answer questions such as which pollutants people are being exposed to and when and how the levels of these change over time.

The researchers hope that the new work will help reveal where pollutants may be posing even small excess risks to health. Clusters of health problems may be visible in large groups that might not show up when looking at smaller groups of people.

Professor Paul Elliott from Imperial College London, the Director of the new MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, said: "Your body has to deal with hundreds of different pollutants every day, the vast majority of which are probably harmless. However, we know that some pollutants can cause health problems - for example, some of the minute particles found in diesel fumes can make people's asthma symptoms worse.

One of the Centre's projects will explore whether land contaminated with chemicals could have a negative impact on health.

"It's quite difficult to work out whether certain pollutants are affecting our health because we are exposed to so many, over such long periods of time. Our new Centre is developing methods to look at the exposure of many thousands of people. Through this research we will investigate the extent, for example, a particular chemical is contributing to a particular health problem."

Professor Frank Kelly from King's College London, the Deputy Director of the new Centre, said "We are very much looking forward to working with colleagues at Imperial College to address a range of challenging environmental issues which contribute to the chronic disease burden in the 21st century."

Dr John Stephenson, the Director of Research and Development at the Health Protection Agency, added: "The establishment of the MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health provides the UK with a world-class research facility, capable of assessing the impact of environmental factors on human health, which will greatly enhance the HPA's ability to provide accurate and timely advice to Government."

Projects planned at the new Centre include:

* A study exploring whether land that is contaminated with chemicals from industrial and domestic pollution could have a negative impact on people's health. The researchers will analyse data on a large group of people living near such land to see whether there are any unusual patterns of health problems. Some studies have suggested that living near contaminated land might be associated with an increased risk of reproductive problems.

* A study of people living near London's Heathrow airport, exploring how air and noise pollution can affect people's health. The research will analyse the effects of living near road traffic from airport uses as well as aeroplanes. Current evidence suggests that air pollution and noise affect the cardiovascular system in different ways. Building on existing work, the new study will look at the effects of exposure to both forms of pollution together.

* A study exploring whether London's Low Emission Zone, which was introduced in 2008 to improve London's air quality by reducing diesel fumes, has a beneficial effect on the health of people living and working in the Greater London area. The Low Emission Zone targets large diesel-engined vehicles, such as lorries. It requires the most individually polluting vehicles travelling in the Greater London area to either meet specific emissions standards or pay a daily charge.

Further information about the Centre is available on its website at www.environment-health.ac.uk

-ends-

For further information please contact:

Laura Gallagher
Press Officer
Imperial College London
e-mail: l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)207 594 8432 or ext. 48432
Out of hours duty Press Officer: +44 (0)7803 886 248

Notes to editors:

1. The Medical Research Council is dedicated to improving human health through excellent science. It invests on behalf of the UK taxpayer. Its work ranges from molecular level science to public health research, carried out in universities, hospitals and a network of its own units and institutes. The MRC liaises with the Health Departments, the National Health Service and industry to take account of the public's needs. The results have led to some of the most significant discoveries in medical science and benefited the health and wealth of millions of people in the UK and around the world. www.mrc.ac.uk

2. The Health Protection Agency is an indep endent organisation dedicated to protecting people's health in the United Kingdom. It does this by providing impartial advice and authoritative information on health protection issues to the public, to professionals and to government. The Agency combines public health, biological, chemical and radiological expertise, research and emergency planning in one organisation. It works at international, national, regional and local levels and has links with many other organisations around the world. This means it can respond quickly and effectively to new and existing national and global threats to health.

3. King's College London

King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 21,000 students from nearly 140 countries, and more than 5,700 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org

4. Imperial College London

Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 13,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture. Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve health in the UK and globally, tackle climate change and develop clean and sustainable sources of energy. Website: www.imperial.ac.uk