New OU research to monitor bioaerosol emissions

An OU academic has been awarded a research grant to monitor the effects of bioaerosol emissions generated from waste and intensive farming activities.

Dr Toni Gladding, Senior Lecturer in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, has been awarded £146,000 from Albion Environmental, to research the most effective ways to analyse the effect of these emissions on health.

This project, Emissions of Microorganisms from IndusTrial Sources (EMITS), which will run for two years, seeks to contribute to the research by allowing the team to consider novel approaches by making decisions on the scale of sampling, equipment used and the need to embed new methodologies into emissions monitoring from such sites. The aim is a greater understanding of industrial bioaerosol emissions and will add to the knowledge base of underlying legislation which requires these sites to monitor their emissions.

The project is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), which means that Albion will carry out sampling and use the OU’s labs and expertise in data interpretation to service their growing business.

Dr Gladding commented: “We hope this work will have a double benefit – the first to move along research and the debate around monitoring at such sites in the UK, the second to employ the OU’s laboratories in ongoing consultancy and research to ensure their longevity.”