CIEH launches new Air Quality Conference

We will be running a new Air Quality Conference, taking place on 28 April 2023, to explore the most pressing issues surrounding outdoor and indoor air quality.

The conference, which will take place online, will feature a range of expert speakers including an opening address from Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, who will be discussing the role of environmental health in addressing the challenges of air pollution. Delegates will also hear from Shirley Rodrigues, London Deputy Mayor, on the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

Tickets are now on sale for the half-day conference and can be purchased via the CIEH website.

Key topics explored at the conference include:

• Air Quality Targets in the Environment Act
• ULEZ Expansion 2023 – presented by Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Greater London Authority
• Panel discussion on poor air quality and the link to health issues
• Action on reducing indoor air pollution while achieving net zero carbon
• The relationship between air pollution and respiratory diseases – case study
• Tackling the unregulated growth of dark stores

The launch of this conference comes as over 70% of members who took part in CIEH’s recent Environmental Protection survey told us that air quality should be a policy priority.

Sir Stephen Holgate, Professor of Immunopharmacology, University of Southampton and speaker at the CIEH Air Quality Conference said:

"There is now overwhelming evidence that exposure to air pollution is a major factor in contributing to a large array of non-communicable diseases from conception to old age. While much of the supporting evidence for this comes from studying outdoor pollution, we spend over 85% of our time in buildings and transport and therefore the greatest exposures are likely to occur in this space.

"Yet, we know very little about the cocktail of indoor chemical and biological pollutants we are exposed to in the indoor environment and how they interact with us across the life course. There is an urgent need for more research to uncover both the nature and health impacts that breathing contaminated indoor air. I look forward to covering this in more detail during the CIEH Air Quality Conference."