of efficient and robustly tested solutions. One of Kazakhstan’s key priorities for building public health capacity is to strengthen scientific communication and exchange through projects such as this.
Eliminating Legionella through electrolysis In the UK, controlling Legionella and Pseudomonas bacteria in buildings, such as hospitals, universities, schools, leisure centres and hotels, can be an expensive challenge, thought to cost building owners and facilities managers around £140 million every year. Brunel’s Professor Tassos Karyannis, Dr Edwin Routledge and PhD student Giovanna Cossali teamed up with the leading provider of testing, inspection and compliance services, Environmental Sciences Group Ltd, to develop a new water disinfection device, which kills harmful pathogens in large-scale water systems using a direct electric current, and reduces the need to chemically control infective organisms in hot water systems as well as the associated costs. The device also increases the carbon efficiency of domestic hot water systems in buildings as it potentially allows water temperatures to be reduced from 60°C to 45°C. It is estimated that UK non-domestic buildings could generate energy savings of up to £62 million through the use of Protex. Scientific research informs evidence-based policy making
environmental damage in Kazakhstan. The crossdisciplinary group received the £157,000 grant from the British Council’s Newton Institutional Links programme, with the aim of developing evidencebased recommendations for policy makers in the central Asian country. The two-year project, titled ‘A multi-dimensional environment-health risk analysis system for Kazakhstan’, began in April 2015 and brings together two universities in Kazakhstan (Kokshetau State University and Pavlodar State University) with Brunel staff, led by Dr Andrew Russell. Russell commented that Kazakhstan is interesting from an environment and health perspective as: “GDP is quite high, mostly due to natural resources, but health levels are generally quite poor. Environmental degradation plays a large role in this ‘health lag’ as there have been many years of lax environmental control going all the way back to Soviet era nuclear tests”.
Protex was observed at Chiltern Multiple Sclerosis Centre, and monitored by Brunel University London over a two-year period. The study proved the effectiveness and provided the first reported long-term monitoring of an electrolytic device in a building’s hot water recirculation system. This led to Knowledge Transfer Partnership funding being awarded from Innovate UK.
Protecting the public from exposure to hazardous chemicals In January 2015, the USA Consumer Products Safety Commission voted to ban certain phthalate plasticizers in children’s products, as recommended in a report co-authored by Brunel’s Professor Andreas Kortenkamp. The Commission voted 3-2 (along party lines) to publish a proposed rule that would permanently ban the use of several phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles. Andreas sat on a Chronic Hazard Advisory panel (CHAP) to study the effects on children’s health of all phthalates and phthalate alternatives used in children’s toys and childcare articles, and to provide recommendations to the Commission regarding whether any phthalates other than those already prohibited should be added to the list.
The project uses big data techniques applied to health and environment data to identify important relationships. This will enable the development
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