IONA - Impact of non-tailpipe emissions on asthmatic airways

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Respiratory impacts of tailpipe and non-tailpipe particulates on adults with asthma: A feasibility study

• IRAS ID

  320784

• Contact name

  James Scales

• Contact email

  j.scales@qmul.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Queen Mary University London

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Traffic related air pollution harms health. As vehicle fleets across the globe move away from diesel and petrol engines, to electric and hybrid powered vehicles, traffic-related air pollution will become dominated by particulates from brake wear, tyre wear and road dust. There is an urgent need to determine the health impacts of these sources of pollution.

  We ask: 'What are the short term health impacts of non-exhaust particulates on the lung function of adults with asthma?"

  The best way to find this out is through a real-world exposure study. The Health Effects Institute (USA's most prestigious air pollution research institute) selected our proposal because of its robust and safe design. The design was developed with input from people with asthma, who are members of the Patient and Public Involvement group within our Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research.

  With fully-informed consent, 48 adults with mild and moderate asthma will be recruited to the study. Participants will visit field-testing sites located in three different air quality environments in London. The sequence of visits will be determined at random. The field-testing sites are:
  (1) A busy road junction characterised by stop-go traffic to enhance emissions from brake wear
  (2) High speed continuous traffic, to enhance tyre wear emissions
  (3) An urban background site away from traffic sources

  At the testing sites participants will ride on a static bike for two hours at a standardised intermittent intensity. Participants will go through identical respiratory health assessments before, during and after the exercise. In parallel, we will measure pollutants in the ambient air breathed by participants including: particulates (PM10 and PM2.5), particle number concentration, and gaseous pollutants ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon and other metals.

  Analysis will quantify the impacts of brake wear and tyre wear air pollution on participants’ respiratory health.

• REC name

  West of Scotland REC 3

• REC reference

  23/WS/0031

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Apr 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion