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Air Pollution

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

Annual Report 2025

Annual Report 2025
Health Effects Institute
2026
Topics: 
Air Pollution

We’re pleased to share the Health Effects Institute’s 2025 Annual Report: Expanding Our Vision for a Healthier Environment. This year’s report highlights the many initiatives, research, and programs that helped make 2025 such a successful year. This success comes from our sponsors, board and committee members, researchers, partners, collaborators, staff, and others who work to help provide impartial science to inform decisions that foster a healthier environment for all.

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Intersections as Hot Spots: Assessing the Contribution of Localized Nontailpipe Emissions and Noise on the Association Between Traffic and Children’s Lung Function

Research Report 241
Meredith Franklin
Scott Fruin
Rob McConnell
Xiaozhe Yin
Masoud Fallah-Shorshani
2026
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Multipollutant Mixtures
Particulate Matter
Traffic-related
Exposure Methods

This report presents a study led by Meredith Franklin at the University of Southern California. Franklin and colleagues examined the association between nontailpipe particle exposures and lung function in the landmark Children’s Health Study in Southern California and explored the role of noise and green space.

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Accounting for the Health Benefits of Air Pollution Regulations in China, 2008–2019

Research Report 239
Patrick L Kinney
Beizhan Yan
Xiaoming Shi
Maigeng Zhou
Shuxiao Wang
Haotian Zheng
et al.
2026
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Ozone & Oxidants
Particulate Matter
Accountability
Innovation
Exposure Methods
Statistical Methods

This report presents a study led by Patrick L. Kinney at the Boston University School of Public Health. Kinney and colleagues evaluated major national regulatory policies that were implemented in China between 2008 and 2019 to reduce air emissions. This study represents an impressive example of a large-scale accountability study that shows the effectiveness of implementing a suite of air pollution regulations.

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Ambient Air Pollution and COVID-19 in California

Research Report 238
Michael Kleeman
Claudia Nau
Jason Su
Deborah R. Young
Rebecca Butler
Lin-Syuan Yang
Christina Batteate
Sarah Eng
Richard T. Burnett
Michael Jerrett
2026
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Nitrogen Oxides
Ozone & Oxidants
Particulate Matter
Traffic-related

This report presents a study led by Michael Kleeman at the University of California, Davis. Kleeman and colleagues evaluated associations between estimated outdoor air pollution concentrations and risk of COVID-19 disease, COVID-19 disease progression or recovery, deaths due to COVID-19, and long COVID- 19 conditions among a study population in Southern California.

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Early-Life Air Pollution Exposure Is Associated with the Infant Gut Microbiome and Fecal Metabolome in the First Two Years of Life

Research Report 237
Tanya L Alderete
Elizabeth A. Holzhausen
Donghai Liang
Roshonda B. Jones
Fredrick Lurmann
Michael I. Goran
et al.
2026
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Nitrogen Oxides
Ozone & Oxidants
Particulate Matter
Traffic-related
Biological Methods

This report presents a study led by Tanya L. Alderete, a recipient of HEI’s 2019 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award, at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Alderete and colleagues examined whether prenatal or postnatal exposures to air pollution were associated with changes in the infant gut microbiome and fecal metabolome during the first 2 years of life.

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Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Birth Weight: The Roles of Noise, Placental Function, Green Space, Physical Activity, and Socioeconomic Status (FRONTIER)

Research Report 236
Payam Dadvand
Jordi Sunyer
Ioar Rivas
Maria Dolores Gómez-Roig
Elisa Llurba
Maria Foraster
et al.
2026
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Nitrogen Oxides
Multipollutant Mixtures
Particulate Matter
Traffic-related

This report presents a study led by co-principal investigators Payam Dadvand and Jordi Sunyer at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). Dadvand, Sunyer, and colleagues examined the effects of prenatal exposure to traffic-related air pollution on fetal growth and placental function in a newly established cohort of 1,080 women living in Barcelona, Spain.

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How Do Household Energy Interventions Work?

Research Report 235
Jill Baumgartner
Sam Harper
Chris Barrington-Leigh
Collin Brehmer
Ellison M. Carter
Xiaoying Li
et al.
2025
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Particulate Matter
Accountability
Global Health

This report presents an accountability study led by Jill Baumgartner and Sam Harper at McGill University. Baumgartner, Harper, and colleagues evaluated the effects on air quality and health of a clean heating policy that stipulated and subsidized the conversion of household heating from coal to electric heaters in Beijing region villages.

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