Diesel Exhaust

This page has a list of publications and news articles related to Air Pollution - Diesel Exhaust. Find more information about our research on Air Pollution.

Newsletter
Health Effects Institute
2012

This update describes a new Diesel Epidemiology Project; a call for Research Proposals: Improving Traffic Exposure Analysis for Health Studies; the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study nearing completion; a new member of the Research Committee; a visit from Japanese Auto Officials; and two new Research Reports on Potential Air Toxics Hot Spots in Truck Terminals and Cabs and on the Impact of 1990 Hong Kong Limits on Sulfur Content in Fuel. 

Research Report 166
Jacob D McDonald
Jeffrey C Bemis
Lance M Hallberg
Daniel J Conklin
Maiying Kong
2012

This report provides the first systematic look at the health effects of exposures to emissions from a new-technology heavy-duty diesel engine. Included in this report are results obtained in rats and mice exposed for 1 and 3 months (and some results in rats at 12 months) to exhaust from a 2007-compliant diesel engine with aftertreatment to reduce particulate matter concentrations. Part 1 describes the core inhalation study by Drs. Jake McDonald and Joe Mauderly of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, with results on general organ toxicity, lung histopathology, pulmonary function, and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress in blood and lung lavage fluid. Parts 2 and 3 describe studies by Drs. Jeffrey Bemis of Litron Laboratories and Lance Hallberg of the University of Texas Medical Branch, respectively, assessing genotoxic endpoints in the exposed rodents. Part 4 describes a study of vascular markers by Daniel Conklin of the University of Louisville. The Preface to this report contains background information about the planning and designing of the study, including decisions regarding the diesel exhaust dilutions and the choice of rodent strains.

Contents: HEI research contributes to international (IARC) review of diesel and gasoline cancer risk; Annual Conference highlights new PM, diesel, and ozone findings, major issues; Air quality outcomes of national limits on power plant emissions; Study tests potential uses of satellite-based PM measurements.

Contents: Greenbaum Testifies on "Producing Credible Science for Decisions"; New HEI Health Effects Study of Modern Diesel Engine Emissions; Health Outcomes and Biomarkers Studies Approved; Multicity Study in Latin America; Air Pollution and Children's Health in Vietnam; HEI in the News; Communication 17: ACES Exposure Atmosphere; Annual Report Now Available; New Global Burden of Disease Estimates; HEI Investigator Wins Haagen-Smit Prize; Workshop on Assessing Exposure to Pollution from Traffic; IARC Review of Diesel and Gasoline Exhaust
Communication 17
Joe L Mauderly
Jacob D McDonald
2012
Communication 17 describes Phase 3A of the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES) to test emissions and health effects of emissions from 2007- and 2010-compliant diesel engines. The Communication contains results from the characterization of exposure atmospheres by Drs. Joe Mauderly and Jake McDonald at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in advance of the start of animal toxicity testing in ACES Phase 3B. It provides important background information on the emissions from one selected 2007-compliant engine and their concentrations in the animal exposure chambers.

Contents: Effects of Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles in Persons with Asthma and Allergy; Workshop Brings Experts Together: Atmospheric Chemists and Health Effects Scientists Meet at HEI to Discuss Common Goals; Symposium Sheds Light on Air Toxics Hot Spots; Wood Stove Changeout Program Brings Some Improvements in Health, Air Quality; Three New HEI Studies Launched: Ozone Exposure and Inflammatory Cells / PM Exposure and Heart Rhythm / Impact of Exposure in Early Life; ACES Reaches Important Milestones; New Investigator

Research Report 159
Simon S Wong
Nina N Sun
Cynthia D Fastje
Mark L Witten
R Clark Lantz
Bao Lu
Duane L Sherrill
Craig J Gerard
Jefferey L Burgess
2011

This report evaluates airway inflammatory responses and expression of the enzyme neprilysin in response to diesel exhaust particle exposure. Dr. Wong and colleagues hypothesized that components of diesel exhaust decrease neprilysin levels in airways, leading to airway function disorders and heightened responses to diesel exhaust. They exposed normal mice, mice genetically deficient in neprilysin, human subjects, and human airway epithelial cells to diesel exhaust particles and measured airway inflammation, neprilysin expression, and any unique responses in neprilysin-deficient mice.

This report reviews new vehicle fuels and technologies that are likely to be commercially available within the next 10 years in the United States and other industrialized countries at a level that could result in significant population exposure. It highlights expected changes in emissions and other effects from the use of each technology and fuel, along with any life-cycle and regulatory issues.

Research Report 151
Debra L Laskin
Gediminas Mainelis
Barbara J Turpin
Kinal J Patel
Vasanthi R Sunil
2010

This report explores the possible physiological basis for epidemiologic results suggesting that people over the age of 55 are more sensitive than younger people to the effects of exposure to particulate matter. Dr. Debra Laskin and colleagues hypothesized that this sensitivity resulted from the lung cells of the elderly producing less of the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (a cell protein involved in systemic inflammation), as compared with the lung cells of the young after exposure to air pollution.

Research Report 147
Barbara Zielinska
Shar Samy
Jacob D McDonald
JeanClare Seagrave
2010

This report describes a study by Dr. Barbara Zielinska and colleagues to investigate the changes that fresh diesel emissions undergo when they are mixed with ambient air, due to reactions with sunlight and other pollutants. The investigators also evaluated how those changes may affect the toxic properties of diesel emissions. The study used a relatively new (2003 model) light duty diesel engine (although not one with a diesel filter) and provides insight into the complexity of diesel exhaust composition in the real world.