Modelling the Impact of the Proposed Newhurst Incinerator on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Urban Health Index (UHI) of Loughborough Town and Uni

据估计，环境空气污染每年导致420万人死于中风、心脏病、肺癌和慢性呼吸道疾病（WHO，2016）。在发达国家和发展中国家，世界上约91%的人口生活在空气质量水平超过世卫组织限值的地方（世卫组织，2016年）。2020年冠状病毒大流行进一步突出了特定的复合空气质量健康影响，分析已经表明污染水平与伦敦行政区内的COVID-19传播之间存在强相关性，COVID-19死亡风险与NO2和PM2.5浓度之间存在强相关性（Saharan et al.，2020年）。在这种大背景下，拉夫堡镇和拉夫堡大学准备在不久的将来对空气质量驱动因素进行潜在的重大改变。废物管理公司Covanta和Biffa以及麦格理的绿色投资集团已达成一项合同，在谢普什德和拉夫堡之间的Newhurst采石场附近的M1 23号交叉口建造一个“废物能源设施”（焚化炉）。莱斯特郡理事会对开发的反对意见被地方政府国务秘书驳回，目前的预测表明建设将于2023年开始。这个学生项目的目的是评估前垃圾焚烧炉的城市健康状况拉夫堡作为一个控制，对焚烧炉排放的影响，可以通过大气扩散模型进行评估，从而产生一个整体评估的任何重大变化，在这个城市的空气质量和环境健康状况。社区参与将通过与南盘滩区居民和拉夫堡空气质量保护小组的对话来实现，这些小组反过来又与市镇和县议员进行对话。我们强调，学生奖学金项目没有议程支持或反对纽赫斯特焚化炉，但目的只是评估其对这个位置的更广泛的城市健康的影响的性质。

Ambient air pollution accounts for an estimated 4.2 million deaths per year due to stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases (WHO, 2016). Around 91% of the world's population, in both developed and developing countries, lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits (WHO, 2016). The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has further highlighted specific, compound air-quality-health impacts, with analysis already demonstrating a strong correlation between pollution levels and COVID-19 transmission within London boroughs, and a strong association of the risk of COVID-19 fatality with NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations (Sasidharan et al., 2020). Against this general background, the town and university of Loughborough are poised for a potentially significant, near-future, step-change in air-quality drivers. Waste management companies Covanta and Biffa, together with Macquarie's Green Investment Group, have agreed a contract to build an "Energy from Waste Facility" (incinerator) between Shepshed and Loughborough, at the Newhurst Quarry site adjacent to Junction 23 of the M1. Objections to the development from Leicestershire County Council were overruled by the Secretary of State for Local Government and current projections indicate construction will commence in 2023. The aim of this studentship project is to evaluate the pre-incinerator urban health status of Loughborough as a control, against which the impact of incinerator emissions may be assessed through atmospheric dispersion modelling, thus generating a holistic assessment of any significant changes in the air quality and environmental health profile of this town. Community engagement will be achieved through dialogue with the Nanpantan Ward Residents' and Loughborough Air Quality Protection Groups, who in turn are in dialogue with borough and county councillors. We stress that the studentship project has no agenda for or against the Newhurst incinerator, but aims simply to evaluate the nature of its impact on the wider urban health of this location.