Characterising the Exposome; a holistic approach to help understand the impact of the environment on health.

The ‘exposome’ is a developing concept that represents the totality of the complex exposures we face as humans, i.e. the measure of all the exposures of an individual during their lifetime and how those exposures relate to health. Up to now, the main focus of exposome research has been on chemical contaminants, environmental pollutants, occupational exposures and lifestyle factors such as tobacco, alcohol and diet. However, there is an increasing interest in less conventional exposures such as green space (GS), social interaction and physical activity and an acknowledgement of the importance of these types of exposures and the effect they have on general health and wellbeing (HWB), in particular mental health.

During the presentation, I will focus on the part of the exposome that is related to GS and associated factors and their combined health benefits. The subject of GS and HWB is highly policy relevant and timely. Projections estimate that by 2050, in excess of 66% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Urbanisation is associated with increased levels of mental illness, including anxiety and depression. Access to urban GS has a positive effect on HWB, but the underlying reasons for this association are not well understood. Research is needed to identify which factors associated with exposure to GS causally effect HWB. The definitions of GS and HWB, and the ability to quantify GS exposure are currently rudimentary and this is holding back research on this topic. I will describe two ongoing projects; a scoping review to map available research on GS and mental health, and a pilot study aiming to quantify the exposure to green space and related factors and their associated health benefits.