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Robert Maynard

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Maynard.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Key airborne pollutants--the impact on health.

Current appreciations of the effect on health of classical air pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and ozone, depend upon modern techniques of epidemiological research. These techniques, which are powerful and able to detect small effects, depend upon the power of modern computers and, though the theory was understood, their application was not possible for most research workers before about 1980. The methods involve handling large data sets and the application of complex methods of regression analysis. Dealing statistically with the many confounding factors that obscure and interact with the effects on health of air pollutants is possible using these methods. Early concerns about the adequacy of handling confounding factors have recently been allayed. This review considers short-term impacts, long-term impacts and areas where further research is required.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2004

Killer smog of London, 50 years on: particle properties and oxidative capacity.

Total suspended particulate (TSP) samples collected on glass fibre filters in London before (1955) and after (1958-1974) the Clean Air Act was examined for physicochemical characteristics and oxidative capacity. High-resolution microscopy identified most of the material as soot with smelter spheres, fly ash (FA), sodium chloride and calcium sulphate particles. Image analysis (IA) was used to show that most of the soot aggregates were less than 1 microm in size and contained chains of individual particles of 10-50 nm. Speed mapping of large agglomerates of the historic particles confirmed that the samples were enriched with soot probably derived from a sulphur-rich coal called nutty slack which was used extensively at this time. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to examine elemental composition. Meaningful quantitation of certain elements (Mg, Al and Zn) proved impossible because they were in high quantities in the glass fibre filters. However, high quantities of Fe>Pb>Cu>Mn>V>As were detected which may explain in part the bioreactivity of the samples. Using a simple in vitro test of oxidative capacity (plasmid assay), one historic particulate sample (1958) showed three times the activity of a modern-day diesel exhaust particle (DEP) sample but ten times less activity than a modern-day urban ambient particle collection. Such studies are continuing to link particle physicochemical properties and bioreactivity with a wider range of the samples collected between 1955 and 74 and how such historic samples compare with present-day London ambient particles.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health and air quality: directions for policy-relevant research.

The NERAM International Colloquia series is a program of five annual meetings involving scientists, regulators, industry representatives, and other stakeholder groups to improve the linkage between emerging scientific evidence on the population health impacts of exposure to particulate matter and clean air policy decisions. Health and Air Quality 2001, the first meeting in the colloquium series, focused on the findings of prospective cohort studies of particulate air pollution and mortality and implications for risk management. A further objective of the colloquium was to identify research directions to reduce information gaps and uncertainties faced by policy makers. This article discusses priority themes for future research to generate evidence in support of policy decisions to improve air quality and population health. These research themes include development of population health indicators to characterize the public health burden of air pollution; individual exposure and outcome studies to the currently available database on the association between air pollution and adverse health effects; identification of sensitive subpopulations; techniques to assess the independent effects of individual pollutants on population health; comparative risk assessment; methods for characterization and communication of uncertainty in risk estimates; effectiveness of policy interventions to guide allocation of limited population health protection resources; improved predictions of the benefits of interventions through appropriate economic analyses: targeted interventions; and approaches for effective stakeholder engagement in risk management policy decisions. Future meetings in the NERAM Colloquium series will provide a forum for discussion of the current state of knowledge and policy implications of findings associated with these key research themes.

Air↗