Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research
An NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence
We are a virtual centre that brings together more than 30 researchers from around Australia and internationally to pursue collaborative research projects and translate our research into practice. Our research aims to understand the health impacts of air pollution and new energy sources.
Our vision is for a healthier community through cleaner air and cleaner energy sources.
Reducing the health impacts of wood heaters in Australia
Wood heater smoke significantly contributes to air pollution in Australia, impacting the health of many Australians.
Current approaches to mitigate the risk that wood heater smoke poses to human health are inadequate. In this new position paper from CAR, several policy options are proposed to help reduce wood heater smoke to protect the health of vulnerable Australians.
Professor Fay Johnston, from the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research, led the development of the paper and said, "It's time to put in place measures to address the problem."
17 December, 2021
CAR releases federal election priorities
CAR has released its federal election priorities for safer air and calls on all political parties to commit to six actions that will reduce the harmful human health impacts of air pollution.
19 November, 2021
Quantifying the health benefits of urban greening strategies
CAR researchers have published a study using innovative methods to quantify the benefits of urban greening and associated adaptation strategies. Using the Heat Health Impact method, they estimated the change in the number of deaths attributable to urban greening and found that heat attributable deaths reduced up to 11.7 per day across the greater metropolitan region of Sydney.
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6 December, 2021
Distinguished Prof Lidia Morawska awarded as the first CASANZ Honorary Fellow
CAR Chief Investigator, Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska, has been awarded as the first Honorary Fellow of the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ).
CASANZ President, Francine Manansala, said the award recognises Prof's Morawska's outstanding dedication to improving human health through better air quality.
We congratulate Distinguished Professor Morawska for this exceptional and deserving award.
12 November, 2021
Launch of the National Air Pollution Monitoring Database (NAPMD)
CAR is proud to announce the launch today of the National Air Pollution Monitor Database (NAPMD), for research and non-commercial use.
NAPMD is the first Australian standardised air pollution monitor database. NAPMD is a fantastic resource for researchers wishing to map and model air pollution across the country and they can now obtain the data in a standardised format from one database location for the first time.
Congratulations to the CARDAT team for their incredible efforts in developing this critical tool.
1 December, 2021
A/Prof Geoff Morgan awarded the CASANZ 2021 Clean Air Achievement Award
CAR Chief Investigator, Associate Professor Geoff Morgan, has been recognised for his significant contribution to achieving improvements in the quality of the air environment by receiving the CASANZ 2021 Clean Air Achievement Award. This award was received in honour of Nick Agapides, who was instrumental in establishing the NSW Air Emissions Inventory. We congratulate Associate Professor Morgan for receiving this highly deserved award.
25 October, 2021
Prof Guy Marks awarded 2021 Australasian Epidemiological Association Mentorship Award
CAR Chief Investigator, Professor Guy Marks, has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to mentoring early career researchers in the fields of Epidemiology, Biostatistics or related disciplines. For his commitment, Professor Marks was awarded the 2021 Australasian Epidemiological Association Mentorship Award. We congratulate Professor Marks for receiving this highly deserved award.
1 December, 2021
Quantifying air pollution levels at early childhood and education care centres
CAR researchers have published a study quantifying children's exposure to particulate matter while at early childhood and education care centres. The study, conducted in Perth, found that exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution was significantly higher in high traffic areas compared with low traffic areas. Peaks in air pollution also corresponded with times when children were most likely to be outside.
21 October, 2021
MJA-Lancet Countdown on climate change and health
CAR researchers have been involved in the latest report card on climate change and health in Australia. The article, published in the MJA today, provides an overview of progress on climate change and health in Australia against several indicators across five broad domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement.
The report finds that efforts achieved at the subnational level have not been matched at the national level, with further ambition required to address climate-related health impacts.
Events
22 December 2021
December webinar:
David Clark
On 22 December 2021, David Clark from the University of Melbourne presented a webinar on the association between traffic-related air pollution and obstructive sleep apnea.
3 September 2021
September webinar: Associate Professor Donna Green and Dr Nathan Cooper
On 3 September 2021, Associate Professor Donna Green and Dr Nathan Cooper, University of New South Wales presented a webinar on an interactive research project to measure indoor and outdoor air pollution in schools.
29 October 2021
October webinar: Associate Professor David Heslop
On 29 October 2021, Associate Professor David Heslop of the University of New South Wales presented a webinar on integrating agent based modelling and digital twins in environmental hazards and emergency response research.
30 July 2021
July webinar: Nicolás Borchers Arriagada
Watch our recording from 30 July 2021 from Nicolás Borchers Arriagada, PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research on the relative health costs of wildfire and prescribed burning smoke in New South Wales.
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17 September 2021
September webinar: Dr Arunima Malik
On 17 September 2021, Dr Arunima Malik from the University of Sydney presented a webinar on supply chain sustainability assessments in Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratories.
25 June 2021
June webinar: Dr Giovanni Di Virgilio
Watch our recording from 25 June 2021 from Dr Giovanni Di Virgilio, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment on climate-resilient planning at local scales: from leveraging real-time observations to next-gen climate modelling.