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The Spring 2013 Update newsletter is now available. Read about a newly appointed expert panel to review diesel epidemiology studies, and HEI’s recent workshops in China and India that focused on air pollution’s global health impacts. Also read about a joint meeting of HEI sponsors and its Research Committee to discuss research progress and priorities and the latest highlights of “HEI in the News”. To download the newsletter, click here.
HEI is pleased to announce the newly formed HEI Diesel Epidemiology Project Panel, which will evaluate the strengths and limitations of current epidemiologic evidence to estimate the cancer risks associated with exposures to diesel exhaust. This multi-disciplinary panel, led by Dr. Daniel Krewski of the University of Ottawa, was formed in response to requests from HEI’s sponsors in government and industry and will conduct its review over the next 15 to 18 months. More information can be found in this announcement.
Research Report 174, Cardiorespiratory Biomarker Responses in Healthy Young Adults to Drastic Air Quality Changes Surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympics, describes a study to evaluate a series of aggressive policies intended to reduce local and regional emissions in the greater Beijing metropolitan area leading up to and during the 2008 Olympics. Dr. Junfeng (Jim) Zhang of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and colleagues evaluated the impact of the likely changes in air pollution levels on cardiovascular responses in 125 healthy young participants before, during, and after the Beijing Olympics. The investigators used mixed models and time-series methods to analyze associations between pollutant levels and biomarkers. To download HEI Research Report 174, including a Commentary by the HEI Review Committee, click here. To download HEI's Press Release on the report, click here.
Research Report 173, Selective Detection and Characterization of Nanoparticles from Motor Vehicles, describes a study in which a nano aerosol mass spectrometer (NAMS) was used to study composition of nanoparticles in real time near a major roadway intersection. Dr. Murray V. Johnston of the University of Delaware, Newark, and colleagues conducted a field test in Wilmington, Delaware, to evaluate performance of the instrument in a real-world setting and to assess whether it could aid in identifying the major source contributions to nanoparticle spikes and background levels, including distinguishing diesel from gasoline vehicles. To download HEI Research Report 173, including a Critique by the HEI Review Committee, click here.
The Winter 2013 Update is now available. Read about HEI’s review of ultrafine particles, which examined a wide range of health studies, and HEI’s upcoming Annual Conference. Also read about a recent HEI-organized science workshop to inform European Union policies and a study that found ambient air pollution to be among the top global health risks. This issue of Update also highlights an upcoming HEI Research Report on air quality improvements during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To download the newsletter, click here.
Perspectives 3 is the third of a series produced by HEI to describe and interpret results from HEI and other research bearing on important and timely issues for a broad audience interested in environmental health. Perspectives 3 focuses on the health effects of ambient ultrafine particles (UFPs) and was developed under the guidance of a special HEI Review Panel. It examines the contribution of motor vehicles within the broader context of the multiple sources of ambient UFPs, explores the evidence from experimental studies in animals and in humans, as well as observational epidemiologic studies of people exposed to UFPs in the environment. It also identifies some of the broader lessons about both the specific health effects associated with exposures to UFPs and possible directions for future studies that could enhance our understanding of emissions, exposures, and effects of UFPs. To download this issue of HEI Perspectives or an Executive Summary, click here. To download HEI’s Press Advisory on the report, click here .
The 2012 Annual Report describes HEI’s unique ability to work with government, industry, the environmental community, and scientists to produce impartial, relevant science that can be trusted for use in often-controversial public policy decisions. The report also describes many strong scientific contributions HEI made this past year, including the publication of recent studies on multipollutants and air pollution hot spots, the effects of diesel emissions on human health, and innovative efforts to measure the health outcomes of regulatory actions and other interventions. To view the 2012 Annual Report, please click here.
The Winter 2013 Research Agenda includes two Requests for Applications (RFAs): RFA 13-1, Improving Assessment of Near-Road Exposure to Traffic Related Pollution and RFA 13-2, Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award. For more information and how to apply, click here.
Effectiveness of Policies to Reduce PM2.5
January 7, 2013
Research Triangle Park
Research Report 172, Potential Air Toxics Hot Spots in Truck Terminals and Cabs, describes a study that measured concentrations of selected volatile organic compounds and particulate matter in locations with potentially high levels of air pollution that could make them “hot spots” for human exposure. Dr. Thomas Smith of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues measured pollutant concentrations at upwind and downwind locations at the perimeter of the terminals, as well as inside truck cabs, at 15 truck terminals. To download HEI Research Report 172, including a Critique by the HEI Review Committee, click here.
Health Effects of
Air Pollution: Recent Advances to Inform EU Policies
January 30-31, 2013
Brussels
Research Report 168, Accountability Analysis of Title IV Phase 2 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, describes a study that analyzed the relationships between reduction in pollutants from power plants and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in the eastern United States between 1999 and 2005. Dr. Richard Morgenstern of Resources for the Future and colleagues used a novel data-driven source-receptor model to explore the statistical relationships between source emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides and monitored concentrations of PM2.5. They performed various external comparisons of their models, and compared the reductions to an estimated counterfactual scenario in which no mandated reductions in SO2 occurred. To download HEI Research Report 168, including a Commentary by the HEI Review Committee, click here.Your Comments Welcome!
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Copyright © 2012 Health Effects Institute. Please send comments to webmaster@healtheffects.orgLast updated May 14, 2013
