Marie Coggins

B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., LFOH

Contact Information

National University of Ireland, Galway
Direct: +353 (91) 495056
Fax: +353 (91) 494584
email: marie.cogginsnuigalway.ie

Brief career details

Graduated from Sligo Institute of Technology with a BSc in Environmental Science and Technology (1995). Obtained an MSc from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Queens University Belfast (1996) and holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Physics NUI Galway (2000). Also, awarded a certificate of operational competence in occupational hygiene (LFOH) from the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

• Worked as an occupational hygienist for Eli Lilly S.A. Pharmaceutical.
• Currently holds the position of Lecturer, School of Physics, NUI Galway.
• Member of the Environment and Health and Climate Change research clusters within the University Ryan Institute.

Teaching Interests

• Current Academic Director for the MSc and HDip Occupational Health and Safety programmes (part-time and full-time)  http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/taught-postgraduate-courses/occupational-health-safety.html.
• 3rd year PH317 Occupational Hygiene.
• Postgraduate EP505 Occupational Hygiene.
• Postgraduate EP526 Monitoring for Health Hazards at Work.

Professional bodies

• Member of the Occupational Hygiene Society of Ireland ( http://www.ohireland.org/) & British Occupational Hygiene Society ( http://www.bohs.org/).
• Former Steering Group member of the Irish Occupational Hygiene Pharmaceutical Forum.

Research Interests

Research interests include measurement of environmental and occupational hazards.

Current Research Projects

Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality, Thermal Comfort, Ventilation and Occupant Behaviour in Energy Efficient Homes

Respirable Crystalline Silica Exposures in Restoration Stone masonry

Catherine Healy (PhD Candidate)

Crystalline silica occurs as a significant component of many traditional materials used in restoration stonework in Ireland. When these materials are processed through activities such as cutting, particulates containing varying quantities of RCS are released into the occupational environment. As it is a requirement to use traditional materials such as sandstone in the restoration process, the elimination or substitution of this high silica content material is not feasible. Exposure to dust containing RCS can result in the development of silicosis and may also lead to the development of lung cancer.

The aim of this research is to:

quantify the RCS exposure of stoneworkers involved in the restoration and maintenance of heritage properties in Ireland,

identify the main determinants of exposure among this occupational group to facilitate the development of technical interventions in areas of high exposure risk.

Recent Research Projects

Indoor Air Pollution and Health (IAPAH)  http://www.nuigalway.ie/iapah

Modelling of Inhalation Exposures to Pharmaceutical Agents

Patricia Mc Donnell PhD

This research aimed to investigate the ability of two occupational exposure models to predict inhalable dust exposures in the pharmaceutical industry. The project involved refining and validating an existing deterministic source – receptor model, and refining, calibrating, validating and investigating the reliability of the inhalable dust exposure form of the Advanced REACH Tool (ART)

Patricia Mc Donnell graduated in 2011 with a PhD in Occupational Health and Hygiene and is currently employed as Occupational Hygienist and Environment Health Safety Specialist in Alkermes Pharmaceutical Athlone. Patricia is also Honorary President of the Occupational Hygiene Society of Ireland.

Occupational Exposure to Hand Arm and Whole Body Vibration

Margaret McCallig MSc

This research aimed to investigate the type of equipment typically used by workers in the construction and property maintenance sector, measure vibration on a range of power tools and vehicles and analyze the effect of equipment age and worker task on vibration emissions.

Margaret McCallig graduated with an MSc in 2009. She is currently employed as EHS - CE Administrator with SF Engineering, Sligo.

Exposure Assessment of Airborne contaminants in the indoor environment of Irish Swine Farms: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Your_Industry/Agriculture/Research/.

Recent Research

Semple, S., Garden, C., Coggins, M., Galea, K.S., Whelan, P., Cowie, H., Sanchez-Jimenez, A., Thorne, P.S., Hurley, J.F., & Ayres, J.G., (2012) Contribution of solid fuel, gas combustion, or tobacco smoke to indoor air pollutant concentrations in Irish and Scottish homes'. Indoor Air, vol 22, no. 3, pp. 212-223.

Coggins, M.A., Hogan, V.J., Kelly, M., Fleming, G.T.A., Roberts, N., Tynan, T., and Thorne, P.S. (2012). Workplace exposure to Bioaerosols in podiatry clinics. Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Vol 56, Issue 6, 746 - 753

McDonnell, P.E., Schinkel, J.M., Coggins, M.A., Fransman, W., Kromhout, H., Cherrie, J.W., Tielemans, E.L., (2011) Validation of the inhalable dust algorithm of the Advanced REACH Tool using a dataset from the pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Environmental Monitoring Vol 13(6):1597-606

McDonnell, P.E, Cherrie, J.W., Sleeuwenhoek, A., Gilles, A., and Coggins, .M. A. (2011) Refinement and validation of an exposure model for the pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 13(3):641-8.

Marie A. Coggins, Eric Van lente, Margaret McCallig, Gurmail Paddan, and Ken Moore (2010) Evaluation of Hand-Arm and Whole-Body Vibrations in Construction and Property Management. Annals of Occupational Hygiene. 54(8):904-14.

McCallig, M., Paddan, G., Van Lente, E.,  Moore, K., (2010) Evaluating worker vibration exposures using self-reported and direct observation estimates of exposure duration. Applied Ergonomics. 42(1) 37-45.

Cherrie, J.W., Gillies, A.T., Sleeuwenhoek, A., Van Tongeren, M., McDonnell, P., Coggins, M., Bailey, S.R. (2009) Modelling Exposure to Pharmaceutical Agents. Journal of Physics Conference Series. 151 012063

McDonnell, P.E., Coggins, M., Hogan, V., Fleming, G., (2008) Exposure Assessment of Airborne Contaminants in the Indoor Environment of Irish Swine Farms. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 15, 323-326. 

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