The Environmental Health Sciences FIXAT project team are seeking to recruit adult non-smoking volunteers to take part in a research project studying exposure to air pollution arising from new or recently decorated buildings.
The Environmental Health Sciences FIXAT project team are seeking to recruit adult non-smoking volunteers to take part in a research project studying exposure to air pollution arising from new or recently decorated buildings.
The team are targeting two groups of volunteers. The first group are subjects living or working in new buildings or recently redecorated homes. The second group are subjects living in houses that did not have any redecoration in the last two years.
Participants will be asked to carry a personal air sampler in a briefcase or backpack (at their convenience) for one day, to allow measurements to be made by the team in their home and (if possible) workplace, and to give one sample of urine.
The study will investigate effects of exposure to airborne chemicals arising from building materials, consumer products and traffic such as organic compounds (VOC, PAH and quinones), particulate matter and black carbon (a measure of traffic emissions). Urine samples will be analysed for indicators of exposure to these pollutants and to identify effects in the body such as changes in the pattern of metabolism of naturally occurring substances (such as lipids) and markers of DNA damage.
The study does not require any change to the subject’s usual daily routine, but participants who complete the study will be paid £12 as recompense for any possible inconvenience caused.
If you are interested in taking part, please contact Mrs Barbara Macias (bam066@bham.ac.uk or call 01214145521).
