Health Effects Institute Annual Conference

Chairs: David Foster, University of Wisconsin, and Daniel Greenbaum, Health Effects Institute

Transformations are under way in vehicles and fuels in the United States and around the world, prompted in part by current regulatory mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the near term — through 2025–2030 — this will mean much greater use of fuel-efficient gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, “lower carbon” fuels, and many other approaches. Over the longer term — 2025 and beyond — increasingly wider use of electric-drive vehicles has the potential for broad shifts in vehicles and mobility. This session will explore what we know about advantages and challenges of the main technology and fuel options, and potential implications for air quality and public health.

Chairs: Jeff Brook, Environment Canada and University of Toronto, and Lianne Sheppard, University of Washington–Seattle

Air pollution sensors and smartphone apps are revolutionizing the way we can monitor environmental exposures and health outcomes in community studies. These novel technologies are inexpensive, easy to use, and portable, and can provide high temporal and spatial resolution; on the other hand, there are questions on data quality, analysis, interpretation, and communication. This session will discuss the current state of the art of sensor technologies, the challenges of their wider use (such as their application in “citizen science”), and how they may advance exposure assessment for health studies.

Chairs: David Eaton, University of Washington–Seattle, and James Merchant, University of Iowa

HEI will present progress of its research programs and publications. Highlights will include a presentation of a recently completed accountability study in the Southeastern United States and plans for new research on the effects of traffic-related air pollution and unconventional oil and gas development. We will also introduce the recipient of the 2016 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award.

Chairs: Francesca Dominici, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Jennifer Peel, Colorado State University

There is a long-standing interest in evaluating the effectiveness of air quality interventions in reducing air pollution and improving public health. To date, “accountability” studies have had varying degrees of success in relating regulatory actions to outcomes. To encourage potential new research in this area, this session hopes to bring fresh insights for methods and approaches in accountability research, taking into account the challenges encountered.

Chairs: Jana Milford, University of Colorado–Boulder, and Bert Brunekreef, University of Utrecht

The oxidant gas nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a regulated criteria pollutant, is the indicator for the larger group of oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) emitted from combustion sources. NO_x react with volatile organic compounds in sunlight to form ozone (O₃). This session will examine two separate scientific debates that have implications for future regulations of NO_x and NO₂: one related to the accuracy of NO_x emission inventories and the challenge in modeling the formation of O₃ in the troposphere, and the other related to the question of whether NO₂ has independent health effects or is more likely an indicator of the broader traffic mixture.

Chairs: Barbara Hoffmann, University of Düsseldorf, Germany, and Mark Frampton, University of Rochester Medical Center

The United States and other countries have made progress in reducing levels of ambient particulate matter (PM), thanks to regulation and the technological innovation in the automotive and other industries. Further progress is expected when additional rules are fully implemented by 2030. In this session, experts from various disciplines will share perspectives on where PM science is, and identify potential key knowledge gaps where research may provide further insight and leverage for future decisions about the PM standard.