Environment & Health Research Unit

Unit Director: Prof. Angela Mathee
Email: amathee@mrc.ac.za

The mandate of the MRC Environment & Health Research Unit (E&HRU) is “to conduct population-based research on environmental risks to health, with special emphasis on those living in poverty.”

The E&HRU comprises a team with expertise in environmental epidemiology, public health, chemistry, medicine, environmental science and nutrition.

"If you want to learn about the health of a population,
look at the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the places where they live."

– Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, in the Fifth Century BC.

The main areas of research currently underway in the E&HRU are:

• Urbanization and urban health;
• Lead poisoning prevention;
• Lead exposure in fishing communities;
• The relationship between bone lead levels and violent/aggressive behaviour;
• Trends in lead exposure following the phase-out of leaded petrol;
• Exposure to environmental pollution
• metals in the environment (for example lead, mercury, cadmium, manganese and arsenic);
• pesticides;
• radon;
• uranium;
• the public health implications of heat stress (climate change);
• the prevalence of hookah pipe smoking in high schools;
• Food insecurity and procurement.

The E&HRU hosts the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Urban Health (WHOCCUH). The WHOCCUH is a partnership of:

• The South African Medical Research Council;
• The University of Johannesburg;
• The University of the Witwatersrand; and
• The City of Johannesburg

The over-arching goal of the WHOCCUH is to, through pooling of the expertise and experiences of the partner organizations, conduct research and make recommendations to improve urban health.

The E&HRU and the WHOCCUH are directed by Professor Angela Mathee.
Telephone: +27 11 274 6078
Facsimile: +27 11 642 6832
Email: amathee@mrc.ac.za