New Wellcome Witnesses publication: 'Air Pollution Research in Britain c.1955–c.2000'
A new volume of Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary
Medicine is freely available to download at the History of Modern
Biomedicine Research Group website:
Air Pollution Research in Britain c.1955–c.2000
'… that whole shift in our
understanding of how air pollution can have effects on systems beyond
the respiratory system has led not only to studies of perinatal
outcomes, but to cognitive defects, rheumatoid arthritis,
appendicitis. Anything is possible.' Professor Ross Anderson
A Witness Seminar on the history of
air pollution research in the UK, with discussion on investigations by
the MRC Air Pollution Unit at Barts (1955–1978) into impacts on
respiratory health, and more recent research into
cardiovascular events and other long-term effects of particulate
matter, such as lung cancer. Chaired by Professor Anthony Seaton
(Aberdeen) with an introduction by Professor Jonathan Grigg (QMUL).
Jones E M, Overy C, and Tansey E M. (eds) (2016)
Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 58. London: Queen Mary University of London.
ISBN 978 1 91019 5147
'I just suddenly thought,
‘'That’s it! It’s air pollution that is changing fibrinogen. Fibrinogen
makes the blood clot and blood clots cause heart attacks’'.'
Professor Anthony Seaton