DGHI doctoral scholar Drew Day (middle) and four Tsinghua University graduate students. Photo by Professor Jinhan Mo, study co-investigator.
Published December 30, 2014 under Research News
Jim Zhang, Professor of Global Environmental Health at the Duke Global Health Institute and the Nicholas School of the Environment, has received a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
The grant to Duke Kunshan University (DKU)—approximately $200,000 over five years—is a subcontract of a $500,000 award to Tsinghua University in Beijing. Based at the DKU Global Health Research Center, Zhang is leading DKU’s role in the project.
Novel Approach to Assess Air Purification Technologies
In collaboration with Dr. Yinping Zhang from Tsinghua University and other researchers, Jim Zhang will use an innovative biomarker approach to evaluate the effectiveness of various air purification technologies in reducing the cardiopulmonary health risks resulting from the outdoor air pollution infiltrating the indoor environment.
Working with an air purification technology company, the study team will conduct biomarker experiments for six weeks with approximately 100 volunteers in Changsha, Hunan Province, whose offices and/or homes have been outfitted with air purification technologies. The team will monitor air pollutants upstream and downstream of the air purifiers as well as perform cardiopulmonary tests on and collect samples from the volunteers to assess changes in their cardiopulmonary disease risk.
In future phases, the team will study portable technologies and detailed physico-chemical mechanisms of air purification technologies in relation to biomarker changes.
Findings to Provide Guidance for Companies, Policymakers
The findings of the study will inform air purification technology companies and policymakers about which air purification technologies are best for reducing the health burden of air pollution.
“This project is novel in that it directly assess changes in levels of cardiorespiratory risk parameters in people who use air cleaning technologies, as opposed to many other studies that just assess changes in pollutant levels,” said Zhang. “People are exposed to a complex mixture of air pollutants. Reducing one pollutant does not necessarily mean other pollutants in the mixture are also reduced; therefore, it’s hard to automatically assume a reduction in health risk based solely on pollutant concentration reductions.”
