Edinburgh Café Scientifique: Surprising Targets for Harmful Air Pollution Particles

May 2017: The Edinburgh Café Scientifique hosted an informal discussion on the health effects of air pollution with Professor Ken Donaldson, Dr Mark Miller and Dr Craig Poland, University of Edinburgh.

On 8 May, Professor Ken Donaldson, Dr Mark Miller and Dr Craig Poland of the University of Edinburgh led a discussion at the Surgeon’s Hall Museum on the surprising targets for harmful air pollution particles. The event, attended by around 60-70 members of the public, was hosted by the Edinburgh branch of Café Scientifique. Ken, Craig and Mark discussed the links between air pollution and health effect running from the Great Smog of London in 1952 to the present day. It encompassed the effects on the heart, lung, brain and a host of unexpected targets of air pollution as well as discussing cutting-edge research from Edinburgh. There was a lively discussion from a great and interactive crowd.

Café Scientifique is a voluntarily run network of science discussion groups based around the UK and the world, which hosts free talks from eminent individuals in an informal 'face-to-face' setting for the public discussion of science and engineering.