ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a strategy for utilising Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a framework for integrating air quality and health datasets in an attempt to define more clearly the nature of health-environment relationships. It assesses the value of incorporating air quality models into GIS in an examination of the links between outdoor air quality and reported respiratory ill health. The chapter explores spatial variations in respiratory ill health in terms of quality of outdoor air to assess whether emissions from a specific industrial source may be influencing health status, combining air quality estimates with primary survey data for health status in adults and children. Air quality modelling clearly depends not only on the accuracy of the algorithms employed, but also on the quality of the input data; it is not a direct substitute for carrying out an environmental monitoring programme.
