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、肺癌和慢性呼吸系统疾病(世卫组织，2016年)。发达国家和发展中国家约91%的世界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)。2020年的冠状病毒大流行进一步突出了具体的、复杂的空气质量健康影响，分析已经表明，污染水平与伦敦各区内新冠肺炎的传播密切相关，新冠肺炎致死风险与二氧化氮和PM2.5浓度密切相关(Sasidharan等人，2020年)。在这一大背景下，拉夫堡小镇和拉夫堡大学正准备在不久的将来对空气质量驱动因素进行潜在的重大变革。废物管理公司Covanta和Biffa与麦格理的绿色投资集团达成了一项合同，将在谢泼德和拉夫伯勒之间的纽赫斯特采石场建造一个“来自废物的能源设施”(焚烧炉)，该采石场毗邻M1的23号路口。莱斯特郡议会对该开发项目的反对被地方政府国务大臣驳回，目前的预测显示，该项目将于2023年开工建设。这个学生项目的目的是评估拉夫堡焚化炉前的城市健康状况，作为对照，可以通过大气扩散模型来评估焚化炉排放的影响，从而对该镇空气质量和环境健康状况的任何重大变化进行全面评估。社区参与将通过与南潘丹区居民和拉夫堡空气质量保护团体的对话实现，这些团体反过来又与区和县议员对话。我们强调，学生项目并没有支持或反对纽赫斯特焚烧炉的议程，而只是旨在评估其对该地点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.