Air Toxics

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Research Report 156
Eric M Fujita
David E Campbell
Barbara Zielinska
William P Arnott
Judith C Chow
2011
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This report describes research funded under HEI's Air Toxics Hot Spot program. Dr. Eric Fujita and colleagues characterized concentrations of mobile-source air toxics (MSATs) and other pollutants in potential Los Angeles County pollution hot spots, including on urban highways with a varying mix of gasoline- and diesel-powered traffic and sites at various distances from the highways and close to other roads.

Research Report 150
Ryan Q Meng
Linda C Hackfeld
Richard P Hodge
Lynne A Wisse
Diana L Redetzke
Vernon E Walker
2010
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This report describes a study by Dr. Ryan Meng and colleagues to determine the role of stereochemistry in the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of three major butadiene metabolites. This study is a part of HEI's program of research in air toxics; one important aim of that program has been to fill key gaps in risk assessment for some of the most important chemicals. Butadiene is present in motor vehicle exhaust and other emissions and is listed by the U.S.

Research Report 149
Thomas M Cahill
M Judith Charles
Vincent Y Seaman
2010
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This report describes a study by Dr. Thomas Cahill and colleagues to create and evaluate a new method to measure acrolein and other volatile carbonyls present at low concentrations in ambient air. Acrolein is an important aldehyde that is very difficult to measure accurately, so developing better methods for measuring levels and exposure is critical to better risk assessment for the chemical. The investigators developed a sampler that traps acrolein using sodium bisulfite in an aqueous medium.

Research Report 146
Michael T Borchers
Scott C Wesselkamper
Hitesh Deshmukh
Erin Beckman
Mario Medvedovic
Maureen Sartor
George D Leikauf
2009
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This report describes a study to investigate the role of two subpopulations of T cells in the airway response to inhaled acrolein, a toxic pollutant in ambient air, which US EPA's National Air Toxics Assessment has identified as having broad effects. Dr. Michael Borchers and colleagues measured inflammation and injury in response to acrolein in the lungs of mice that are genetically deficient in the specific T-cell subpopulations. He also measured changes in gene expression in the T-cell subpopulations after acrolein exposure. This study was funded under the Walter A.

Research Report 144
Vernon E Walker
Dale M Walker
Quanxin Meng
Jacob D McDonald
Bobby R Scott
Steven K Seilkop
David J Claffey
Patricia B Upton
Mark W Powley
James A Swenberg
Rogene F Henderson
2009
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This report describes a study to evaluate genotoxic effects of exposure to 1,3-butadiene and its metabolites. 1,3-Butadiene is classified as a human carcinogen via inhalation, but risk assessment is complicated due to differences in metabolism between mice and rats and between males and females. Dr. Walker and colleagues studied mutagenicity in rats and mice of both genders, with a focus on evaluating stereoisomers of 1,3-butadiene metabolites and low exposure concentrations.

Research Report 143
Roy M Harrison
Juana Maria Delgado-Saborit
Stephen J Baker
Noel Aquilina
Claire Meddings
Stuart Harrad
Ian Matthews
Sotiris Vardoulakis
H Ross Anderson
2009

This report describes a study to develop detailed personal exposure models that take various microenvironments into account. To develop the models, Dr. Harrison and colleagues made repeated measurements of exposure to selected air toxics for each of 100 healthy adult nonsmoking participants residing in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the United Kingdom expected to have different traffic exposures.

Special Report 16
Health Effects Institute
2007
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A Special Report of the Institute's Air Toxics Review Panel. Special Report 16 summarizes the health effects of exposure to the 21 mobile-source air toxics (MSATs) defined by the 2001 EPA mobile-source rulemaking and critically analyzes the literature for a subset of seven MSATs (acetaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, naphthalene, and polycyclic organic matter). The report also assesses and summarizes research gaps and unresolved questions, as understood in the context of the current regulatory agenda. The report focuses on MSATs for which mobile sources are a sizable source of human exposure and for which existing data suggest that health effects might be observed at concentrations approaching those found in ambient air. For each MSAT, the following questions are addressed: (1) To what extent are mobile sources a significant source of exposure to this MSAT? (2) Does this MSAT affect human health? (3) Does this MSAT affect human health at environmental conditions?

Research Report 130-II
Barbara J Turpin
Clifford P Weisel
Maria T Morandi
Steven Colome
Thomas Stock
Steven Eisenreich
Brian Buckley
et al
2007
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The RIOPA project comprised three studies, one funded by the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) and two funded by HEI, that investigated seasonal concentrations of 16 VOCs, 10 carbonyls, and PM2.5 in homes in Los Angeles CA, Houston TX, and Elizabeth NJ. The project was jointly funded and reviewed by a Special Review Panel of the two organizations. It generated a rich database on concentrations of air toxics and PM2.5 in the personal breathing zone of 100 adults in each city as well as inside and outside their homes.

Research Report 132
Elizabeth Delzell
Nalini Sathiakumar
John Graff
Maurizio Macaluso
George Maldonado
Robert Matthew
2006
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This study by Dr. Elizabeth Delzell and colleagues is the first major update of the most extensive human study to date of potential carcinogenic effects of 1,3-butadiene (BD). The earlier study investigated mortality among the largest occupational group exposed to BD: 18,000 men employed in the styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) industry between 1944 and 1991. In the current study, these workers were followed for an additional 7 years and the effects of exposure to other compounds were evaluated.

Research Report 130-I
Clifford P Weisel
Junfeng (Jim) Zhang
Barbara J Turpin
Maria T Morandi
Steven Colome
Thomas H Stock
Dalia M Spektor
et al
2005

The RIOPA project comprised three studies, one funded by the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) and two funded by HEI, that investigated seasonal concentrations of 16 VOCs, 10 carbonyls, and PM2.5 in homes in Los Angeles CA, Houston TX, and Elizabeth NJ. The project was jointly funded and reviewed by a Special Review Panel of the two organizations. It generated a rich database on concentrations of air toxics and PM2.5 in the personal breathing zone of 100 adults in each city as well as inside and outside their homes.