Working Group on Outdoor Environments, Pathogens in Air and Human Health

Airpath was funded in 2007 under the Joint Environment and Human Health Programme; NERC, Defra, EA, the MOD, MRC, the Wellcome Trust, ESRC, BBSRC, EPSRC and HPA . The project was successfully completed in December 2008..

Grant Reference: NE/E00881X/1, NE/E008674/1, NE/E008852/1.

Overview

There is a very clearly-defined and significant link between pathogens in air and human health, from pneumonia caused by various kinds of germs to more specific lung infections caused by particular pathogens. Natural environment takes a significant part in controlling and determining the source, pathway, exposure routes and, ultimately, health risk of these pathogens to humans. It is very important to understand the environmental pathways and properties and their link and mechanism in causing diseases in order to protect human lives.

It is a complicated issue that requires a multidisciplinary team to tackle; for instance, medical experts look at the dose of pathogens and how the pathogens get into the body and cause infection, while environmental scientists investigate where and how the pathogens come to the environment. At the moment, medical and environmental scientists usually work separately because of their different research focuses on humans or on the environment, respectively. However, in order to better protect human lives and set up efficient environmental and health policies, we must build links between these disciplines.

It is the aim of this working group to build a network and research capacity to tackle human health problems associated with the outdoor environment and air. The novelty of this working group is that medical and environmental scientists will examine their concerns and problems with a multidisciplinary approach. In the other words, medical experts are no longer looking at pathogens in the human body alone; they are also looking at these pathogens in the environment. This multidisciplinary working group will contribute to the understanding of the environmental process and pathway of pathogens in air and its relationship with the outdoor environment, which leads to the improvement of the environment and human health.

Our Objectives are:

• To build capacity and national and international networks to identify key research themes and develop future collaborations
• To identify the basic principles and key techniques which are lacking in this area.
• To review available information on the type and concentration of air pathogens in the UK and how to get this data if it is not available
• To understand and identify the health-related environmental pathways (from sources to human exposure) and human exposure routes of airborne pathogens.
• To identify and resolve the scientific and technical issues that inhibit researchers
• To understand and predict how environmental change and other human-made activities will influence the pathogen pathways and impact on human health
• To develop criteria that allows policy makers, researchers and health assessors to identify potential health risks under various environments and environmental activities