ORBE Project

INFORMATION LETTER TO AFFECTED PERSONS[1]

ORBE research: impact Of uRBan Environment health risks of heat waves

(Impact of the urban environment on health risks related to heat waves)

Madame, Monsieur,

We inform you that your personal data will be processed within the framework of the research project entitled ORBE: impact Of uRBan Environment health risks of heat waves (impact of the urban environment on health risks related to heat waves) carried out by the Institut Pasteur de Lille, the data controller (the University of Lille is a joint supervisory body of the Institut Pasteur de Lille and a subcontractor in this context) and funded by the Health Data Hub and the Green Data for Health.

What is the purpose of this research project?

The ORBE research project aims to better understand the impacts of heat waves and/or urban developments (e.g. walkability) on cardiovascular health (in the population and in patients at higher risk) in order to build new strategies for adapting to climate change.

What information is collected and for what purposes?

The data collected for this research are the following data:

From the Lille Stroke Registry
Ischemic heart disease registries in Lille, Bas-Rhin and Haute-Garonne
From the REIN registry (French Agency for Biomedicine)

In the context of the research, the data mobilized within these registries are as follows: Identification numbers and identifiers and associated geographical coordinates, type and characteristics of ischemic heart disease (including date of event) & date of registration for renal failures.

This information will be combined with environmental and meteorological data. The purposes of this data are:

To study the association between the walkability of the neighborhood of residence of the inhabitants and (i) the incidence and mortality of stroke and coronary events in the general population, (ii) hospitalization or death in patients with end-stage renal failure, while taking into account the confounding effects of air pollution on these latter relationships.
To study the association between heat waves and (i) the incidence and mortality of stroke and coronary events in the general population, (ii) hospitalization or death in patients with end-stage renal failure, while taking into account the role mediated by air pollution on these latter relationships.
To study the interaction between urban planning (UHI (urban heat islands) and walkability) and heat wave on (i) the incidence and mortality of stroke and coronary events in the general population, (ii) hospitalization or death in patients with end-stage renal failure, while taking into account the effect of air pollution on these latter relationships.
To study the interaction between urban planning (UHI (urban heat islands) and walkability) and heat wave on (i) the incidence and mortality of stroke and coronary events in the general population, (ii) hospitalization or death in patients with end-stage renal failure, while taking into account the effect of air pollution on these latter relationships.
To quantify the impact of urban planning modification strategies (walkability, ICU) on the number of deaths and events avoided (Qualitative Health Impact Study).

Land-use planning policies are now taking a direction focused on reducing dependence on motorized vehicles and encouraging active transportation. Combating urban heat islands has also become a central element of these urban planning policies. Their main objective is to minimize carbon footprint, reduce air pollution, and improve citizens' well-being. These policies likely have a beneficial impact on public health. The results of the ORBE project will allow for an assessment of the direct impact on the cardiovascular health of the general population, and in a population at higher risk of cardiovascular events, resulting from improvements in these urban planning practices. Data relating to this health impact can then be used to conduct a health economics analysis aimed at estimating the savings achieved by the healthcare system. This approach will provide valuable insights to guide future urban planning policies. By integrating the health impact more thoroughly and with more documentation into policy decisions, this data will provide crucial additional information to inform choices and priorities in the development of public policies.

This research project aims to develop a national walkability measurement system based on published methodologies and tools, as well as open data mapping. This system will allow other teams to more easily assess the impact of walkability on various indicators. Furthermore, we will propose a methodology for evaluating the impact of urban heat islands on the exacerbation of health risks associated with heat waves.

The health impact of urban developments in relation to heat waves is a recent field of research. Relatively little data exists in the literature, and what little there is generally considers the characteristics of each territory separately (urban/rural, vegetation cover, soil sealing). These studies have highlighted the impact of these characteristics but do not allow for a truly comprehensive quantification of the characteristics of the urban environment. Our work will allow us to study two important dimensions of the urban environment:

Walkability, thanks to a score developed by the project team (RID-AGE, LGCgE, METRICS, IMPECS, LESP, ARTERRE) and for which a preliminary study had been carried out (association between walkability and blood pressure in the urban communities of Lille and Dunkirk and validation of the walkability score on the city of Lille from the travel surveys of the Lille Urban Metropolis).
Urban Heat Islands (UHIs), based on work carried out in France by the MApUCE and Géoclimate projects, will allow us to map climatic zones in France and to quantify local temperatures in 43 urban areas. This data will enable us to obtain a fine-scale estimate of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) and to better quantify their effects.

Legal basis & data controller

In light of the issues discussed above, the legal basis required for the use of the collected data is the performance of the mission entrusted to the Institut Pasteur de Lille (Article 6.1.e of the GDPR). Regarding the processing of health data, this is authorized by scientific research (Article 9.2.j of the GDPR).

The data controller for your data in the context of this study is the Institut Pasteur de Lille, 1 Rue du Professeur Calmette, BP 245, 59019 Lille Cedex.

How is your data protected and how long is it kept?

The data collected is strictly confidential. Only authorized personnel have access to pseudonymized data.[2] Data processing is carried out in a manner that respects confidentiality. No data that could directly or indirectly identify you will be published. Data is subject to validation before being published.

The data is kept in an active database for the entire duration of the project (18 months) and for up to two years after the last publication related to the project, then for seven years in intermediate archiving under strict security procedures. Only completely anonymized data is published.

Who are the recipients of the data?

The recipients of the data are authorized staff of the Pasteur Institute of Lille and its joint supervisory bodies within the framework of the research project, as well as the research structures involved in the research project, namely:

UMR 1167 RID-AGE
ULR4515 LGCgE
ULR2694 METRICS
ULR 4483 IMPECCABLE
ARTERRE, UMR 1295, CERPOP, University of Toulouse
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Strasbourg

These structures are committed in the same way as the Pasteur Institute of Lille with regard to the confidentiality of your data.

What are your rights and how can you exercise them?

In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, you have various rights concerning your personal information: the right of access, rectification, objection, erasure, and restriction of processing of your data, in particular to verify its accuracy and, where applicable, to rectify, erase, complete, or update it. You can exercise these rights directly with the Institut Pasteur de Lille by completing the form available at: https://app.witik.io/fr/form/institutpasteurdelille/exercicedroits-rgpd or by email to [email address missing]. dpo@pasteur-lille.fr or by post to the following address: For the attention of the data protection officer – Institut Pasteur de Lille, 1 Rue du Professeur Calmette, BP 245, 59019 Lille Cedex.

If, after contacting us, you believe that your rights have not been respected, you can file a complaint with the CNIL (www.cnil.fr).

We thank you for your indirect contribution to this research, which aims to improve knowledge of the impact of heat waves and/or urban developments on cardiovascular health in order to build new strategies for adapting to climate change.

[1] Also available at the following link: https://pasteur-lille.fr/projet-orbe/

[2] Pseudonymisation is the processing of personal data in such a way that the data can no longer be attributed to a data subject without the use of additional information.