Tuesday, July 5, 2022
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Technology and Engineering

Researchers develop roadside barrier design to mitigate air pollution

March 9, 2021
in Technology and Engineering
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The curved barriers deflect pollution away from pedestrians and back onto the road

IMAGE

Credit: n/a

A unique curved barrier has been designed by researchers at Imperial College London, who publish new findings in the peer-reviewed journal Cities & Health on how the structure can protect people from the damaging effects of air pollution.

With air pollution becoming an increasingly dangerous global health challenge, researchers are constantly working on innovating novel solutions to tackle these 21st century problems. At Imperial College London, researchers are using airflow modelling techniques to study the effects of unique roadside structures to deflect particulates away from pedestrians.

The health concerns arising from lower air quality are more significant amongst lower income communities which are more likely to be situated near heavily traffic-laden thoroughfares. Similarly, children are both more vulnerable to and more readily exposed to air pollution simply due to their proximity to the ground, where heavier pollutants settle over time. Real-time data on air pollution in London and south east England can be found on London Air, a tool run by the London Air Quality Network at Imperial.

Dr Tilly Collins found this issue particularly worrying, especially after noticing the severe pollution in the air while watching her child playing netball in a school playground alongside a busy London A-road.

“I thought to myself, what could be done? And done now? So, I started researching the effect of walls along roads,” Dr Collins, from Imperial’s Centre for Environmental Policy, said. “It became evident that along the pedestrian side of these roadside walls, there are vortices where the air quality can actually be even worse as the pollutants get trapped in them.”

Initially building off simple models, Dr Collins, Dr Huw Woodward, also from the Centre for Environmental Policy, and Agamemnon Otero of Energy Garden, explored ideas of urban design that would mitigate these vortex effects and improve air quality for pedestrians and especially children.

The curved barriers deflect pollution away from pedestrians and back onto the road.

Inspired by airfield baffles and the curved sound-walls alongside motorways in Germany and the Netherlands, the researchers found that curved structures would more effectively disperse and reflect pollutants back towards the roads and would very rapidly improve air quality for pedestrians in an inexpensive manner.

Although there are challenges in implementing this sort of urban furniture, such as road visibility, the researchers are confident that the net gain in air quality and health is immediate and significant enough to warrant further exploration of these ideas. Beyond air quality, these curved barriers would also mitigate noise pollution, and would be able to act as scaffolds to increase green infrastructure throughout large cities.

When asked about the challenges faced during this research project, Dr Collins said: “Initially, it was difficult to convince others to get on board. The focus is very much on successfully reducing exhaust fumes, but there are these things we can do now to protect our children. The different sciences, urban designers and architects should collaborate more to design these solutions achieve air quality improvements at local scales more effectively and quickly.”

Despite the hurdles, Dr Collins is optimistic for the future of the project. With increased attention being placed on the challenges associated with air pollution, there is a need for unique and effective urban design, and these curved baffling barriers are able to tackle these challenges head on, providing immense benefits to the general public.

###

Reposted with permission of Imperial College London

Media Contact
Rachel Amadi-Nna
[email protected]

Original Source

https://newsroom.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/researchers-develop-roadside-barrier-design-to-mitigate-air-pollution/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2021.1883888

Tags: BiologyBiomedical/Environmental/Chemical EngineeringClimate ChangeClimate ScienceEnvironmental HealthPollution/RemediationResearch/Development
Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • New imaging technology less accurate than MRI at detecting prostate cancer, trial shows

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Alcohol changes brain activity differently in male and female mice

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Scientists discover key to hepatitis A virus replication, show drug effectiveness

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Study explores coevolution of mammals and their lice

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

    95 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • Magnetic spins that ‘freeze’ when heated: Nature in the wrong direction

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

nTIDE May 2022 COVID Update: Uncertainty about inflation tempers good news for people with disabilities

COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

The pair of Orcas deterring Great White Sharks – by ripping open their torsos for livers

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 190 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....