Suzanne Bartington

• University of Birmingham

Background: In May 2019, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia introduced a city-wide raw coal ban (RCB) to improve ambient air quality. Air pollution exposure particularly affects child health and is associated with acute respiratory disease. We assessed the effects of the RCB on air quality and child respiratory health. Methods: An interrupted time-series analys...

Globally, climate change represents the most significant threat to the environment and socioeconomic development, endangering lives and livelihoods. Within the UN’s current 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate action is explicitly covered under Goal 13, “to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. This perspective c...

This study explores indoor air pollutant (PM1, PM2.5 and NO2) concentrations over a 15-week period during the COVID-19 pandemic in a typical suburban household in Oxford, UK. A multi-room intensive monitoring study was conducted in a single dwelling using 10 air quality sensors measuring real-time pollutant concentrations at 10 second intervals to...

The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution causes approximately seven million premature deaths worldwide each year. Solutions to air pollution are well known, yet this rarely equates to easily actionable. Here we demonstrate how art science collaboration can successfully highlight the issue of air pollution and create wider civic di...

Objectives The study aims to investigate the short-term associations between exposure to ambient air pollution (nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), particulate matter pollution—particles with diameter<2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) and PM 10 ) and incidence of asthma hospital admissions among adults, in Oxford, UK. Design Retrospective time-series study. Setting Oxford...

We apply a two-step data driven approach to determine the causal impact of the clean air zone (CAZ) policy on air quality in Birmingham, UK. Levels of NO2, NOx and PM2.5 before and after CAZ implementation were collected from automatic air quality monitoring sites both within and outside the CAZ. We apply a unique combination of two recent methods:...

Understanding temporal and spatial trends in pregnancy and birth outcomes within an urban area is important for the monitoring of health indicators of a population. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all births in the public hospital of Temuco, a medium-sized city in Southern Chile between 2009 and 2016 (n = 17,237). Information on advers...

The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to test the impacts of changes in travel patterns on air quality and the environment. Therefore, this study provides insights into the impacts of COVID-19 emergency public health “lockdown” measures upon traffic flow, active travel and gaseous pollutant concentrations (NO, NO2 and O3) in Oxford ci...

Worldwide lockdown reduced air pollution during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The relationship between exposure to ambient air pollution, digital display device use and dry eye symptoms amongst patients with severe ocular surface disease (OSD) were considered. Symptoms and air pollutant concentrations for three different time periods (p...

Exposure to atmospheric particulate matter is associated with a wide array of health impacts. Whilst ambient air pollution exposure is widely discussed both within the scientific literature and media, indoor exposure to pollutants has received less attention. However, humans spend a large amount of time in indoor environments, which increased signi...

Background Cooking fuel choice and fuel switching behaviours can be influenced by both social and economic contextual factors; with implications for household air pollution exposure. The Rwandan Government have recently proposed a charcoal sale ban to reduce domestic reliance upon charcoal fuels and reduce associated respiratory health harms. Meth...

In 2019, a domestic raw coal ban (RCB) was introduced in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Coal-briquettes have since been promoted in Ger district households, however implications for carbon monoxide (CO) exposure remains uncertain. We obtained 48-hour indoor CO concentrations in 23 Ger district households and compared these to 10 raw-coal households. Inform...

Taking holistic actions to improve urban air quality is central to reducing the health risks associated with urbanisation, yet local evidence-based and institutional frameworks to achieve this are still challenging especially in many low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper develops and applies an integrated systemic approach to explore...

Air pollution is the single largest environmental risk to human health in the UK, exerting a major healthcare sector burden and exacerbating health and social inequalities. The NHS Long Term Plan commits the healthcare sector to reducing emissions from all sources, however, to date few Acute NHS Trusts have implemented air quality focused sustainab...

Objective. To estimate the point prevalence and likely ranges of pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, low birth weight and preterm delivery in Latin America and the Caribbean, and evaluate the heterogeneity of the estimates. Methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies reportin...

Background Smoke from solid biomass cooking is often stated to reduce household mosquito levels and, therefore, malarial transmission. However, household air pollution (HAP) from solid biomass cooking is estimated to be responsible for 1.67 times more deaths in children aged under 5 years compared to malaria globally. This cross-sectional study inv...

In utero exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from polluting cooking fuels has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes including low birthweight (LBW). No previous study in Uganda has attempted to investigate the association between the different types of biomass cooking fuels and LBW. This study was conducted to investigate the association...

This study provides valuable insight into impacts of COVID-19 emergency public health “lockdown” measures upon traffic flow, active travel and gaseous pollutant concentrations (NO, NO 2 , and O 3 ) in Oxford city centre during 2020. Comparisons of traffic counts indicated pronounced changes in traffic volume associated with national lockdown period...

Background Cooking location among households using solid biomass cooking fuels may have implications for exposure to harmful levels of Household Air Pollution (HAP). However, little is known about the predictors of cooking location and their association with Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI); a leading cause of mortality in children aged under fiv...

Household air pollution (HAP) from cooking on biomass fuel presents significant health, environmental and socioeconomic consequences worldwide. However, there is a lack of understanding of the factors influencing cooking behaviours that affect HAP exposure in Rwanda (e.g., cooking location, removing children from the cooking area). Sixteen qualitat...

Interventions to reduce household air pollution (HAP) are key to reducing associated morbidity and mortality in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs); especially among pregnant women and young children. This systematic review aims to determine the effectiveness of interventions aimed to reduce HAP exposure associated with domestic solid biomass...

Emergency responses to the COVID-19 pandemic led to major changes in travel behaviours and economic activities in 2020. Machine learning provides a reliable approach for assessing the contribution of these changes to air quality. This study investigates impacts of health protection measures upon air pollution and traffic emissions and estimates hea...

Low-cost air quality sensors offer significant potential for enhancing urban air quality networks by providing higher spatio-temporal resolution data needed, for example, for evaluation of air quality interventions. However, these sensors present methodological and deployment challenges which have historically limited operational ability. These inc...

Background: The World Health Organisation reported that 45% of global acute respiratory infection (ARI) deaths in children under five years are attributable to household air pollution, which has been recognised to be strongly associated with solid biomass fuel usage in domestic settings. The introduction of legislative restrictions for charcoal pr...

Background: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), household air pollution as a result of using solid biomass for cooking, lighting and heating (HAP) is associated with respiratory infections, accounting for approximately 4 million early deaths each year worldwide. The majority of deaths are among children under five years. This population-b...

Poor air quality is a development challenge. Urbanization and industrial development along with increased populations have brought clear socio-economic benefits to Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) but can also bring disadvantages such as decreasing air quality. A lack of reliable air quality data in East African cities makes it difficult to...

Household air pollution (HAP) from biomass cooking with traditional stoves is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) worldwide. Air quality interventions such as improved cookstoves (ICS) may mitigate HAP-related impacts; however, poor understanding of contextual socio-cultural factors such as local cook...

Background A variety of public health interventions have been undertaken in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to prevent morbidity and mortality associated with household air pollution (HAP) due to cooking, heating and lighting with solid biomass fuels. Pregnant women and children under five are particularly vulnerable to the effects of HAP,...

Ambient fine particulate matter and preterm birth in Temuco, Chile: effect modification by maternal morbidity E. Blanco, M. Quinteros, X. Ossa, J. Delgado-Saborit, J. Cárdenas-Ramírez, C. Blázquez, S. Bartington, R. Harrison, and P. Ruiz-Rudolph Abstract Background: Exposure to fine ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) during pregnancy has been relat...

Introduction Excess free sugar intake is associated with obesity and poor dental health. Adolescents consume substantially more free sugar than is recommended. National (UK) School Food Standards (SFS) are in place but are not mandatory in all schools, and their impact on the diets of secondary school pupils is unknown. We aim to evaluate how SFS a...

Background: Household air pollution associated with biomass (wood, dung, charcoal, and crop residue) burning for cooking is estimated to contribute to approximately 4 million deaths each year worldwide, with the greatest burden seen in low and middle-income countries. We investigated the relationship between solid fuel type and respiratory symptoms...

Carbon monoxide (CO) is harmful to human health, yet there is limited evidence concerning emissions associated with biomass fuel cooking in occupational settings. Real-time 48-hour monitoring of CO concentrations at breathing height, was undertaken in staff and student kitchen and serving areas of two commercial canteens. We characterized two diurn...

This paper reports the first research investigation in urban Rwanda of indoor PM2.5 and CO levels associated with biomass fuel cooking activities. The study included a survey of household and cooking activity among 40 biomass fuel households in Nyarugenge District, Kigali, together with air quality monitoring for particulate matter (PM) and carbon...

Background: Tobacco control policies have potential to be an effective strategy for the reduction of smoking prevalence and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in tertiary educational settings worldwide. The aims of this study were to collect baseline data among staff and students, to measure smoking behaviours and attitudes towards introduction of ca...

Background and objectives: Interventions to prevent childhood obesity targeting school age children have mostly reported limited effectiveness, suggesting such prevention programs may need to start at an earlier age, but evidence has been scarce. We reported a pilot study aiming to demonstrate the feasibility of a multifaceted intervention for pre...

Primary care exercise referral schemes (ERSs) are a potentially useful setting to promote physical activity (PA). It is not established, however, whether interventions to increase PA, such as ERSs, have differing health outcomes according to the participants’ body mass index (BMI). This paper summarizes evidence for the impact of primary care ERSs...

The Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS) is a large-scale prospective observational study investigating the role of social, biological and environmental influences on pregnancy and child health and development in an urban setting in southern China. Pregnant women who reside in Guangzhou and who attend Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center...

Background: Tea, a common beverage, has been suggested to exhibit a number of health benefits. However, one of its active ingredients, caffeine, has been associated with preterm birth and low birthweight. We investigated whether tea consumption during early pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and abnormal fetal growth....

Household Air Pollution (HAP) from biomass cooking fuels is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low-income settings worldwide. In Nepal the use of open stoves with solid biomass fuels is the primary method of domestic cooking. To assess patterns of domestic air pollution we performed continuous measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) and partic...

Asthma is common in children worldwide, although its prevalence varies substantially by location. The prevalence of wheeze over a 12-month period ranged from 2.1% to 32.2% in the older age group (13–14 years) and 4.1% to 32.1% in the younger age group (6–7 years) [1]. There is a positive association between current symptoms of asthma in younger and...

After considering the data sources in more detail, this chapter describes health during infancy of the cohort children through investigating the baby's birthweight, its infant weight at 8–9 months and the early nutrition and patterns of breastfeeding. Then, it considers a range of parental and community influences on the baby's health are — namely,...

Children in the UK are growing up against a background of changing family size and structure as well as changing demographic, economic and societal circumstances, which together have important implications for their health (Peckham, 1998). It is important to understand how the changes in patterns of caring for children and family context influence...