LEEDS UNIVERSITY GETS stlg 4.2M TO STUDY TRAFFIC POLLUTION
The journey made by poisonous chemicals from car exhausts into
the bodies of drivers and pedestrians will be mapped by University
of Leeds researchers in the most wide-ranging study of urban traffic
pollution ever launched.
The project was given the green light today after winning over £4M
from the Joint Infrastructure Fund (jointly provided by the
UK Government and the Wellcome Trust).
Dr Margaret Bell, of the Institute for Transport Studies,
is co-ordinating efforts across six departments to understand and
reduce traffic pollution in our cities and towns.
New technology will be developed to analyse the complex cocktail
of chemicals produced as cars accelerate and idle their way
through congested cities. Revolutionary biomarkers will be
developed to pick out telltale residual pollutants in blood and urine.
"Children being taken to school by car encounter higher levels of
pollutants than those walking along the same street, but for a
shorter time" said Dr Bell. "We will be able to determine which is
worse for them by seeing which chemicals end up inside their
bodies."
The project builds on the unique Instrumented City Facility
developed by Dr Bell to build a complete picture of the way
traffic in towns and cities flows, congests and pollutes.
An understanding of how car and lorry fumes are produced and
dispersed enables researchers to advise policymakers about how
to protect people's health, reduce smog and make our urban
environment quieter and more pleasant.
The award is one of two made today to Leeds research groups from
the Joint Infrastructure Fund. The fund has awarded money to 45
projects in 27 universities.
For more detailed information see the ITS web site
http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/
Dr Margaret Bell can be contacted on +44(0)113 233 5330
email [log in to unmask]
Matthew Page, ITS Publicity Officer, can be contacted
on +44(0)113 233 5358
email [log in to unmask]
Tuesday 7 December 1999
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