Spacing out: Air pollution and human health
UP part of team that solves mystery of X-shaped radio galaxies with MeerKAT telescope
Research Matters
Welcome to Research Matters. This curated site highlights some of the University of Pretoria’s most impactful and innovative research which addresses some of our society’s most pressing concerns so that we can transform lives and communities. We are rated as the number one university in South Africa for research outputs. Our vision is to be a leading research-intensive university in Africa that is recognised internationally for its quality, relevance and impact. We develop people, create knowledge and strive to make a difference locally and internationally.
Research
Latest featured research
Heritage: Finding your way back home after being ‘uitgesmyt’
Uitgesmyt – ‘cast out’ – is a documentary by Dr Siona O’Connell which tells the story of the first land restitution case in South Africa.
Heritage: How forced removals shaped ‘An Impossible Return’
Data – in multiple forms – informs stories, and stories shape the things we study. In this case, the acclaimed late South African sculptor David Brown helped UP academic and filmmaker Dr Siona O’Connell reshape one of her studies of forced removals.
Fast facts about respiratory disease
Prof Janine Wichmann and Dr Bukola Olutola share some quick facts about the effects of air pollution on respiratory health.
News & Analysis
Latest featured news & analysis
Heritage: Researcher Profile - Dr Siona O'Connell
Dr Siona O’Connell is based in the University of Pretoria’s School of the Arts and is a founding member of the Critical African Studies project at UP (CAST UP). She was the recipient of the prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of the Humanities in Africana and Latin American Studies, Art and Art History and Film and Media Studies at Colgate University in the USA.
Video: Pretoria’s air is two times more polluted than the World Health Organisation allows.
Watch this short video which takes us through how air pollution is linked with human ill health, such as respiratory disease, and the links which UP researchers, Dr Bukola Olutola and Prof Janine Wichmann, have found between air pollution and respiratory disease on cold and warm days in a study carried out in Secunda.
Air pollution, temperature and respiratory disease: a South African study
Global warming and air pollution have something in common: their effects on human health. Air pollution is a well-known cause of breathing problems. Hot weather can also bring on these symptoms.