Luc LR Int Panis

Flemish Institute for Technological Research | VITO · Sustainable Health

Background: Cycling, as an active mode of transportation, has well-established health benefits. However, the safety of cyclists in traffic remains a major concern. In-depth studies of potential risk factors and safety outcomes are needed to ensure the most appropriate actions are taken to improve safety. However, the lack of reliable exposure data...

Physical activity and ventilation rates have an effect on an individual's dose and may be important to consider in exposure-response relationships; however, these factors are often ignored in environmental epidemiology studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate methods to estimate the inhaled dose of air pollution and understand variability, in...

Background: Daily changes in ambient concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ozone areassociated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality, with the lungs and their function being avulnerable target. Methods: To evaluate the association between daily changes in air pollution and lung function in healthy adultswe obtai...

Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is considered the most sustainable form of personal transport. Yet its net effects on mobility-related CO2 emissions are complex and under-researched. Here we collected travel activity data in seven European cities and derived life cycle CO2 emissions across modes and purposes. Daily mobility-related...

Background: Emerging evidence points to the beneficial role of greenspace exposure in promoting cardiovascular health. Most studies have evaluated such associations with conventional cardiovascular endpoints such as mortality, morbidity, or macrovascular markers. In comparison, the microvasculature, a crucial compartment of the vascular system wher...

In this scientific advisory report, which offers guidance to public health policy-makers, the Superior Health Council of Belgium provides an overview of the potential health burden of aircraft noise and pollutant emissions on citizens living near Brussels Airport. This report aims at providing both authorities, citizens and the airport with specifi...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Recent studies have shown that active travel is generally associated with lower levels of both perceived and measured stress. Specific microenvironmental conditions encountered during daily journeys, however, may lead to varying degrees of stress experienced at that moment. Our aim is to evaluate how travel mode-specific stress,...

Many aspects of our life are related to our mobility patterns and individuals can exhibit strong tendencies towards routine in their daily lives. Intrapersonal day-to-day variability in mobility patterns has been associated with mental health outcomes. The study aims were: (a) calculate intrapersonal day-to-day variability in mobility metrics for t...

Previous research has shown that walking and cycling could help alleviate stress in cities, however there is poor knowledge on how specific microenvironmental conditions encountered during daily journeys may lead to varying degrees of stress experienced at that moment. We use objectively measured data and a robust causal inference framework to addr...

De resultaten van het PASTA project PASTA, het is geen voor de hand liggend acroniem voor een project over actieve mobiliteit. PASTA staat voor 'Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches' en was een Europees project (2013-2017) over fietsen, wandelen en openbaar vervoer dat in 2012 merkwaar-dig genoeg werd ingediend in een call ove...

Background Stress is one of many ailments associated with urban living, with daily travel a potential major source. Active travel, nevertheless, has been associated with lower levels of stress compared to other modes. Earlier work has relied on self-reported measures of stress, and on study designs that limit our ability to establish causation. Ob...

Air pollution is difficult to detect with human senses. It is to a large extent out of sight and out of sense, while causing a burden on our economy, our health and our environment. A relevant illustration of this is the exposure to air pollution during commutes. The air pollution commuters are exposed to remains to a considerable extent a hidden g...

Background Differences in physical effort between cycling for transportation on an electric-assisted cycle (EAC) and a conventional cycle (CC) were previously studied. The effect of cycle type on respiratory ventilation and inhaled air pollution dose remains unclear. Objective The first aim was to predict respiratory ventilation while cycling on a...

Air Pollution is difficult to detect with human senses. It is to a large extent, out of sight and out of sense, while causing a burden on our economy, our health and our environment. A relevant illustration of this is exposure to air pollution during commutes. The air pollution commuters are exposed to remains to a considerable extent an hidden geo...

Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is considered the most sustainable form of personal transport. Yet its net effects on mobility-related CO2 emissions are complex and under-researched. Here we collected travel activity data in seven European cities and derived life cycle CO2 emissions across modes and purposes. Daily mobility-related...

Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is considered the most sustainable and low carbon form of getting from A to B. Yet the net effects of changes in active travel on changes in mobility-related CO2 emissions are complex and under-researched. Here we collected longitudinal data on daily travel behavior, journey purpose, as well as perso...

Changes in geometry of the retinal microvascular network, including vessel width, vessel density, and tortuosity, have been associated with neurological disorders in adults. We investigated metrics of the retinal microvasculature in association with behavior and cognition in 8- to 12-year-old children. Digital fundus images of 190 children (48.2% g...

The importance of setting a policy focus on promoting cycling and walking as sustainable and healthy modes of transport is increasingly recognized. However, to date a science-driven scoring system to assess the policy environment for cycling and walking is lacking. In this study, spread-sheet-based scoring systems for cycling and walking were devel...

Air pollution is a global threat to public health, especially when considering susceptible populations, such as children. A better understanding of determinants of exposure could help epidemiologists in refining exposure assessment methods, and policy makers in identifying effective mitigation interventions. Through a participatory approach, 73 and...

Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is generally good for health, the environment and the economy. Yet the net effects of changes in active travel on changes in mobility-related CO2 emissions are complex and under-researched. Here we collected longitudinal data on daily travel behavior, mode choice, as well as personal and geospatial c...

Background the relationships between the built environment characteristics and personal factors influencing public transport use and the ways they interact are not well understood. Objective we aim to advance the understanding of the relationship between built environment and frequency of public transport use in seven European cities, while accoun...

Free access until June 04 2020 here: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1avCCLDQwyMG Increased cycling uptake can improve population health, but barriers include real and perceived risks. Crash risk factors are important to understand in order to improve safety and increase cycling uptake. Many studies of cycling crash risk are based on combining dive...

EUPASTA factsheet on Active Mobility in Antwerp

Background/Aim: Not much is known about the role of repeated peak exposures in longer term exposure and health. In fact, no clear definition of peak exposure to air pollution exists. We aimed to develop an algorithm to automatically signal peaks in black carbon (BC) timeseries; we studied the role of personal characteristics, including time-activit...

Background Ubiquitous sensing technology provides novel opportunities for integrating activity patterns in exposure assessment. Theoretically promising to generate population-wide activity-based exposures, in reality strong limitations to widespread and large-scale use exist. Methods and results from three contrasting studies are presented. Methods...

Measuring bicycling behaviour is critical to bicycling research. A common study design question is whether to measure bicycling behaviour once (cross-sectional) or multiple times (longitudinal). The Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project is a longitudinal cohort study of over 10,000 participants from seven Europe...

Background: Although walking for travel can help in reaching the daily recommended levels of physical activity, we know relatively little about the correlates of walking for travel in the European context. Objective: Within the framework of the European Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project, we aimed to explo...

Land Use Regression (LUR) modeling is a widely used technique to model the spatial variability of air pollutants in epidemiology. In this study, we explore whether a LUR model can predict home-to-school commuting exposure to black carbon (BC). During January and February 2019, 43 children walking to school were involved in a personal monitoring cam...

Physical activity has been widely associated with beneficial health effects. The use of electric-assist bicycles (e-bikes) can lead to increased or decreased physical activity, depending on the transport mode substituted. This study aimed to compare physical activity levels of e-bikers and conventional bicycle users (cyclists) as well as across e-...

INTRODUCTION. The European Environment Agency has identified Northern Italy as one of the most polluted areas in Europe. Among air contaminants, black carbon (BC) has been identified as a sensitive marker of traffic related air pollution. This study aims to investigate the spatial distribution of BC in the catchment area of an elementary school of...

Background: Air quality standards are typically based on long term averages - whereas a person may encounter exposure peaks throughout the day. Exposure peaks may contribute meaningfully to health impacts beyond their contribution to long term averages, and therefore should be considered alongside longer-term exposures. We aim to define and explain...

Background: Sufficient sample size and minimal sample bias are core requirements in empirical data analyses. Combining opportunistic recruitment with an online survey and data collection platform yields new benefits compared to traditional recruitment approaches. Objective: The objective of this paper is to report on the success of different recru...

BACKGROUND: Sufficient sample size and minimal sample bias are core requirements for empirical data analyses. Combining opportunistic recruitment with a Web-based survey and data-collection platform yields new benefits over traditional recruitment approaches. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to report the success of different recruitment methods and obta...

Aim: To assess the main and interaction effects of black carbon and physical activity on arterial blood pressure in a healthy adult population from three European cities using objective personal measurements over short-term (hours and days) and long-term exposure. Methods: A panel study of 122 healthy adults was performed in three European citie...

Background: Exercise-based rehabilitation improves general cardiovascular fitness. The impact on the microvascular system has been studied in less detail. We measured changes in retinal blood vessel diameters, as a proxy for microvascular reactivity, in cardiac patients and we assessed the impact of a rehabilitation program on retinal vessel diamet...

Inleiding: Eens we een stamboom, of kwartierstaat, hebben opgesteld van onze voorouders, en we alle data kennen van geboortes, huwelijken en overlijdens, willen we vaak meer weten over wie deze mensen waren. Hoe leefden ze en waar precies woonden en werkten ze? De meesten waren landbouwers en afhankelijk van gekochte of gepachte hoeven en gronden o...

Introduction: The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has identified Northern Italy as one of the most polluted areas in Europe. In the specific area of Milan this situation is mainly caused by urban motorized traffic. The aim of this first part of the project MAPS MI, Mapping Air Pollution in a School catchment area of Milan, was to study the spat...

MAPS MI, Mapping Atmospheric Pollution in a School catchment area of Milan, is a project that aims to (1) study spatial variation of Black Carbon (BC) (2) raise awareness of children about air pollution (3) assess air pollution personal exposure of schoolchildren, and (4) identify the so called “ideal home-school paths” (the least polluted routes t...

Abstract Several studies have shown that a significant amount of daily air pollution exposure is inhaled during trips. In this study, car drivers assessed their own black carbon exposure under real-life conditions (223 h of data from 2013). The spatiotemporal exposure of the car drivers is modeled using a data science approach. In-vehicle exposure...

Background: Transport mode choice has been associated with different health risks and benefits depending on which transport mode is used. We aimed to evaluate the association between different transport modes use and several health and social contact measures. Methods: We based our analyses on the Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport...

Background: Sufficient sample size and minimal sample bias are core requirements in empirical data analyses. Combining opportunistic recruitment with an online survey and data collection platform yields new benefits compared to traditional recruitment approaches. Objective: The objective of this paper is to report on the success of different recr...

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure is associated with negative health outcomes. Changes in DNA methylation level may be an important mechanism through which air pollution can induce its effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between DNA methylation in blood and personally measured TRAP exposure. Global DNA m...

Background: In the fight against rising overweight and obesity levels, and unhealthy urban environments, the renaissance of active mobility (cycling and walking as a transport mode) is encouraging. Transport mode has been shown to be associated to body mass index (BMI), yet there is limited longitudinal evidence demonstrating causality. We aimed to...

Subjective perception of air pollution is important and can have impacts on health in its own rights, can lead to protective behaviour, or it can be leveraged to engage citizens and stakeholders in support of cleaner air policies. The aim of the current analysis was to examine associations between level of concern over health effects of air polluti...

Introduction: When physical activity is promoted in urban outdoor settings (e.g. walking and cycling), individuals are also exposed to air pollution. It has been reported that short-term lung function increases as a response to physical activity, but this beneficial effect is hampered when elevated air pollution concentrations are observed. Our st...

Background/aim The increased inhalation rate during physical activity in urban environments may result in increased inhaled dose of traffic-related air pollutants. Short-term exposure to traffic-related air pollutants has been associated with increasing blood pressure. The current study assesses the main effects and interaction effects of traffic-r...

See full paper at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317871361_NO2_but_Not_PM_25_at_the_Home_Address_is_Associated_with_Concern_over_Health_Effects_of_Air_Pollution Background/aim People living in urban areas in Europe are exposed to elevated concentrations of air pollution. The lower the air pollution levels, the better for your health; s...

Background/aim Transport behaviours have been associated with several positive and negative health effects. The current study evaluates the association between different modes of transport and subjective general health in an adult population in seven European cities, and explores whether mental health, vitality, perceived stress, social contacts, a...

On the family history of professional cyclist Raymond Impanis (1925-2010) and Flemish origin of his peculiar surname. (in Dutch) Raymond Impanis (1925-2010) was in de jaren ‘50 en ‘60 van de twintigste eeuw een zeer succesvol wielrenner. Over zijn familienaam en afkomst doen allerlei geruchten de ronde. Hij was echter geen vondeling zoals algemee...

Abstract While the annual number of trips of the average urban inhabitant has grown steadily in recent years, people are becoming less active while doing so. This lack of physical activity causes major health problems for individuals and great economic costs for society as a whole. Replacing short motorized trips by walking and cycling has been sho...

We conducted a health impact assessment (HIA) of cycling network expansions in seven European cities. We modeled the association between cycling network length and cycling mode share and estimated health impacts of the expansion of cycling networks. First, we performed a non-linear least square regression to assess the relationship between cycling...

Several studies have shown that a significant amount of daily air pollution exposure is inhaled during trips. In this study, car drivers assessed their own black carbon exposure under real-life conditions (223 h of data from 2013). The spatiotemporal exposure of the car drivers is modeled using a data science approach, referred to as "microscopic l...

presentation at ISES 2017

Driving at slower speeds is safer, but some contend that it is also more environmentally friendly, based on the assumption that driving more slowly uses less fuel and produces fewer emissions. This may be true of motorway traffic, but some traffic simulations have predicted that driving at slower speeds in urban areas actually increases emissions....

Active mobility (AM), including walking and cycling as single trips or in combination with public transport, has recently been promoted by health professionals-with WHO leading the way-to tackle health problems caused by physical inactivity. In fact only 1/3 of the European population is estimated to meet the minimum recommended levels of physical...

The PASTA project ran from October 2013-October 2017, and was about getting individuals to be more physically active by integrating physical activity (PA) into their daily transport activities through walking and cycling. This report reflects the work and findings from the first work package of the PASTA project. In a nutshell, this report looks at...

Fig S1 FEV1 Fig S2 FEV1/FVC Fig S3 PEF Table S1: Detailed Characteristics of the study population at entry of the study (n=2,449) and pulmonary outcomes based on all clinical visits (n=5,404). Table S2: Summary pollutant concentration data per year (Station Dessel 42N016) per year.

Sensitivity analysis of the association between exposure to particulate matter with diameter < 10 μm (PM10) the day before the clinical visit (lag 1) and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s (FEV1)

Background There is increasing evidence that active mobility contributes to overall physical activity, and is negatively associated with obesity. However, the associations between active mobility, physical activity and body weight are complex. In the current analysis, a number of research gaps are tackled (e.g. including leisure-time physical activ...

Background PASTA (Physical-Activity-through-Sustainable-Transport-Approaches) is a European project that aims to promote and assess active travel and develops a new comprehensive Health Impact Assessment (HIA) model for active travel (AT). Objective: Describe the HIA approach used in the PASTA project. Methods Conduct workshops and individual inte...

Background Active mobility (ie walking and cycling) has been associated with health benefits like increasing levels of physical activity and reduction of cardiovascular risk in the general population. However, increased inhalation rate during physical activity may result in increased inhaled dose of traffic-related air pollutants. short-term exposu...

Background In order to increase the levels of physical activity in urban population, it is essential to know how a behavioural change towards cycling as active mobility can be produced and what factors influence people in their choice to cycle. But few studies have done longitudinal analysis of behavioural changes in cycling in relation to their po...

Background In order to increase the levels of physical activity in urban population, it is essential to evaluate how real-life policy interventions affect the population cycling attitudes and behaviour. There is evidence to support that policies of different nature have the potential to influence cycling behaviour, but few studies have done longitu...