Graham Bentham

I am a retired Professor of Environmental Sciences and was formerly the Director of the Centre for Environmental Risk (1998-99) and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research (1999-2004). My research is concerned with the effects of environmental conditions on health. This includes work on the effects of climate change on the risks of heat-wave deaths, winter deaths, the incidence of food poisoning and the impact on water-borne enteric infections such as cryptosporidiosis. My current research focuses on the positive and negative effects of exposure to sunlight and includes research on the effects of light exposure on age-related macular degeneration and the effects of sunlight on vitamin D status. I was Co-Chair of the MRC-NERC Cooperative Group on Climate Change, Ozone Depletion and Health, a member of the DETR Ultraviolet Measurements and Monitoring Review Group and of the Department of Health Expert Group on the Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK. 

Effects of environmental conditions on health; climate change and health. Positive and negative effects of exposure to sunlight. Light exposure and the risk of age-related macular degeneration; sunlight exposure and vitamin D status; environmental influences on physical activity and obesity. 

Significant Publications

• Augood, C.A., J.R. Vingerling, P.T.V.M. De Jong, U. Chakravarthy, J. Seland, G. Soubrane, L. Tomazzoli, F. Topouzis, G. Bentham, M. Rahu, J. Vioque, I.S. Young, A.E. Fletcher, (2006). Prevalence of age-related maculopathy in older Europeans: The European Eye Study (EUREYE). Archives of Ophthalmology, 124 (4), 529-535. DOI: 10.1001/archopht.124.4.529 
• Augood, C., A. Fletcher, G. Bentham, U. Chakravarthy, P.T.V.M. De Jong, M. Rahu, J. Seland, G. Soubrane, L. Tomazzoli, F. Topouzis, J. Vioque, I. Young, (2004). Methods for a population-based study of the prevalence of and risk factors for age-related maculopathy and macular degeneration in elderly European populations: The EUREYE study. Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 11 (2), 117-129.
• Lake, I.R., G. Bentham, R.S. Kovats, G.L. Nichols, (2005). Effects of weather and river flow on cryptosporidiosis. Journal of Water and Health, 3 (4), 469-474.
• Gibbs, S., H. Surridge, R. Adamson, B. Cohen, G. Bentham, R. Reading, (2004). Atopic dermatitis and the hygiene hypothesis: A case-control study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 33 (1), 199-207. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyg267 
• Lane, S.E., R.A. Watts, G. Bentham, N.J. Innes, D.G.I. Scott, (2003). Are environmental factors important in primary systemic vasculitis? A case-control study. Arthritis and Rheumatism, 48 (3), 814-823 DOI: 10.1002/art.10830 
• Bentham, G., I.H. Langford, (2001). Environmental temperatures and the incidence of food poisoning in England and Wales. International Journal of Biometeorology, 45 (1), 22-26. DOI: 10.1007/s004840000083

Publications: EPrints Digital Repository

Climate change and health; ozone depletion and health; environmental health risks.