Black Carbon and Ultrafine Particles: Key Findings from the Defra Evidence Review
This webinar presents key findings from national evidence review of black carbon (BC) and ultrafine particles (UFP), delivered jointly by AtkinsRéalis and the University of Birmingham.
The session will summarise the current scientific understanding of BC and UFP, including sources, health and environmental impacts, monitoring approaches, and the strength and limitations of the existing evidence base. Drawing on an extensive review of UK and international literature, the webinar will also explore how these pollutants relate to existing air quality metrics (such as PM₂.₅), identify key evidence gaps, and discuss the implications for air quality management, policy development, and future research.
The webinar is aimed at air quality practitioners, researchers, policymakers and regulators with an interest in emerging air pollutants and their relevance to air quality assessment and management.
Our speakers
Daniel Francis is a Senior Air Quality Consultant at AtkinsRéalis, based in Bristol, specialising in air quality project management, policy‑relevant research and the application of emerging science to air quality management. He was the technical lead for the Defra national evidence review of black carbon and ultrafine particles, working in close collaboration with the University of Birmingham and a multidisciplinary project team.
Daniel has extensive experience delivering innovative evidence-led reviews for government and regulatory clients, including Defra, with a particular focus on emerging air pollutants, monitoring strategies and health evidence. Alongside his technical work, he is actively involved in professional knowledge‑sharing through IAQM and other forums, and has a strong interest in digital innovation and improving the accessibility and usability of air quality evidence for practitioners and decision‑makers.
Francis Pope, University of Birmingham School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences. Full bio to follow.
Roy M Harrison OBE, FRS is Queen Elizabeth II Birmingham Centenary Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Birmingham, UK. His research interests are in air pollution, especially airborne particulate matter. These extend from emissions, through atmospheric transformations to personal exposure and effects upon human health. Recent research has focussed especially on China (Beijing), India (Delhi) and the United Kingdom.
He has also been heavily engaged at the science/policy interface as a member of several government technical advisory groups for the Department of Health and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the U.K. including past membership of Defra’s Science Advisory Council, and current membership of Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group and the Dept. of Health Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants. He was a contributor to the World Health Organization Global Air Quality Guidelines (2005) and the Guidelines for Quality of Indoor Air (2010). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (the UK Academy of Sciences) in 2017. He is author of over 700 papers in the peer-reviewed literature, and is listed by Web of Science as a Highly Cited Researcher with an H-index of 110.
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