MRC funds NEXUS – a new international transdisciplinary partnership to improve research infrastructure and capacity for evaluation and policy impact

Health impacts of non-exhaust pollution

Air pollution is the largest environmental threat to health, contributing to seven million premature deaths globally per year. Road transport continues to be a major source of air pollution.

However, urban environments globally are rapidly changing: factors such as regulation, improvements in combustion engine technology, heavier vehicles and the switch to electric vehicles now mean that exhaust pollutants are declining, with non-exhaust emissions now frequently exceeding exhaust emissions.

There is now an urgent need to understand the health impacts of non-exhaust emissions: largely brake, tyre and road wear particles emitted by frictional processes arising from vehicle use. Furthermore, non-exhaust emissions remain almost entirely unregulated.

Funded for five years by the UK Medical Research Council, NEXUS brings together expert research groups across Europe, North America, and East Asia to address this challenge. The new partnership will

• Include transdisciplinary expertise – from aerosol science, toxicology, to epidemiology, big data science, public expertise and health policy change.
• improve infrastructure and research capacity
• deliver outstanding research to guide health policy and regulation to protect people and the environment

Chris Griffiths (Co-Lead, Oxford University) said: “Urban environments are changing rapidly; NEXUS will deliver a step change in research capacity to better understand impacts of non-exhaust emissions, thereby informing international action to protect human health and the wider environment.”

Ian Mudway (Co-Lead, Imperial College) said: “While moving to EVs is vital, this network will address the significant unknowns about the health impacts of non-exhaust emissions (tyre, brake wear, road dust) to better inform policy and safeguard public health.”

Greg Evans (Co-Lead, University of Toronto) said: “Non-exhaust emissions are an emerging global issue so its wonderful that MRC has funded creation of this global partnership to address this challenge.”

Dominique Hamerlijnck (Expert Patient, Lungs Europe) said: “My asthma gets worse the closer I get to busy roads. It is not just the exhaust fumes but also the pollution of cars driving by, breaking and speeding up. Not enough information is available about this pollution and its effects on health and wellbeing. It does not only affect me, but everyone. We all deserve to breathe clean air and be protected from harm.”

More information

NEXUS is a global partnership of 17 academic institutions and 8 public/industry groups, led from University of Oxford, Imperial College and University of Toronto, with patient and public involvement led by Lungs Europe (European Respiratory Society, Switzerland

17 Academic Partners:

• Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
• Imperial College, London
• Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, CISC, Spain
• MRC Toxicology Unit, Cambridge
• National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands
• National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
• Queen Mary University of London
• Stanford University, USA
• University of California, Riverside, USA
• University of Copenhagen
• University of Loughborough
• University of Manchester
• University of Novi Sad
• University of Oxford
• University of Swansea
• University of Toronto
• Warsaw University of Technology

8 Partner Organisations / Industry partners

• Asthma and Lung UK
• Centre for Applied Respiratory Research Innovation and Impact (CARRii), Oxford UK
• Emissions Analytics, UK
• Health Effects Institute, Boston, MA, USA
• Lungs Europe, European Respiratory Society, Switzerland
• Mann+Hummel, Germany
• National Physical Laboratory, UK
• UK Health Security Agency