Air Pollution

A Special Report of the Institute's Panel on the Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution. This report is the most comprehensive and systematic review to date of the scientific literature on emissions, exposure, and health effects from traffic-related air pollution. It includes conclusions about the populations exposed around major roads, the associations between exposure to air pollution from traffic and human health, and important remaining data gaps. Compared with the initial pre-print version released in May 2009, this final version has undergone data verification and editorial changes; however, the overall conclusions did not change.

This report contains two studies, by Drs. Annette Peters and Douglas Dockery. Dr. Peters and her colleagues evaluated the association between nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and exposure to particulate matter just prior to the event. She asked 691 patients in hospitals in Augsburg, Germany who survived an MI to provide hourly details about their activities 4 days before MI onset. The investigators used a case-crossover analysis to determine whether exposure to pollutants was associated with onset of MI. Dr. Dockery and colleagues assessed the correlation between short-term increases in ambient concentrations of particulate matter and the risk of possibly life-threatening arrhythmias in patients with implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). The investigators studied 195 patients from Boston, MA who had either single or dual-chamber ICD's and used logistic regression models to determine whether exposure to air pollutants was associated with arrhythmias.

Dr Alison S Geyh and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University evaluated the personal and microenvironmental aerosol speciation sampler (PMASS) prototype developed by Dr. Susanne Hering with HEI funding (HEI Research Report 114). The precision and accuracy of the prototype, which measures PM_2.5 mass, elemental and organic carbon, sulfate, and nitrate, was evaluated in two locations with different PM composition. Baltimore, Maryland (outdoors), and Fresno, California (indoors). Geyh and colleagues set a target of 10% precision and 10% accuracy for all species measured.

A Special Report by the HEI International Scientific Oversight Committee of HEI Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia (PAPA) Program (a program of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities). This first publication to come from HEI's PAPA Program was undertaken to help inform the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities. This special report has identified and summarized more than 135 studies of air pollution and health conducted across Asia. In addition, it critically reviews for the first time a key subset of these studies: 28 studies of daily mortality. The report is a valuable resource for policy makers in Asia and beyond.