Air Pollution

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Communication 9
Health Effects Institute
2001

The fuel efficiency and durability of diesel technology are particularly desirable in the transportation and construction industries. Concerns about the health effects of diesel particulate emissions have led to progressively stricter emission standards, which can be met only through new technologic advances and fuel modifications. The cerium-based fuel additive Eolys, used in conjunction with a particulate filter, is one of the approaches being considered. However, this additive will result in emissions of cerium compounds and an increase in cerium in the ambient air and soil.

Research Report 94-I
Jonathan M Samet
Francesca Dominici
Scott L Zeger
Joel Schwartz
Douglas W. Dockery
2000

In an effort to address the uncertainties regarding the association between PM and daily mortality, and to determine the effects of other pollutants on this association, HEI funded the National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study (NMMAPS). Dr Jonathan Samet and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, in collaboration with investigators at Harvard University, conducted this time-series study in large cities across the US where levels of PM and gaseous pollutants were varied.

Communication 8
Health Effects Institute
1999
Report of the Joint Meeting of the EC and HEI, held in Brussels, Belgium, January 14–15 1999. The following topics were discussed: What Are People Exposed To and Where Do Particles Come From? What Is Known About the Health Effects of PM? What New Research Results Are Emerging? and Outstanding Questions and Gaps for 2003 and Beyond.
Research Report 89
Thomas Burbacher
1999

In an effort to improve air quality and decrease dependence on petroleum, alternative fuels such as methanol have been considered to substitute for gasoline or diesel fuel. Methanol is also a candidate to provide the hydrogen for fuel cells. Before people are exposed to increased concentrations of methanol, the potential health effects of such exposures require study. Dr. Burbacher and colleagues of the University of Washington studied the effects of long-term exposure to methanol vapors on metabolism and reproduction in adult female monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) and developmental effects in their offspring, who were exposed prenatally to methanol. 

Research Report 86
William Navidi
Duncan Thomas
Bryan Langholz
Daniel Stram
1999

Dr. Navidi and colleagues at the University of Southern California discussed the development of three sophisticated statistical methods that would improve the estimates of the health effects of air pollution obtained from epidemiologic studies. First, they took a standard case-crossover design and introduced a bidirectional element where control data were obtained both before and after the health event of interest.

Communication 6
Health Effects Institute
1999
Communication 6 contains proceedings from a workshop held in Brussels, Belgium, June 29–30 1998. Presentations focused on butadiene ambient concentrations, metabolism, mutagenicity, epidemiology, and a panel discussion on Butadiene Risk Assessment in the Regulatory Framework.
Research Report 81
Ira B Tager
Patrick L Kinney
1998

Dr. Ira Tager and colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB), and Dr. Patrick Kinney and colleagues at the School of Public Health, Columbia University objectives were to develop new methods for estimating an individual's past exposure to ozone.

Research Report 77
Michele A Medinsky
David C Dorman
James A Bond
Owen R Moss
Derek B Janszen
Jeffrey I Everitt
1997

Dr. Medinsky and colleagues of the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology sought to determine how formate, a metabolite produced when methanol is broken down by the body, is formed and removed in monkeys after they have been exposed to methanol vapors. The investigators exposed female cynomolgus monkeys to environmentally relevant concentrations (10, 45, or 200 parts per million) of methanol vapors and to one high dose (900 ppm) for two hours.

Research Report 74
Gary M Pollack
Kim LR Brouwer
1996

Drs. Pollack and Brouwer at the University of North Carolina determined the relationship between methanol exposure and its uptake into and elimination from the blood of nonpregnant and pregnant rodents. The investigators exposed rats and mice at several different stages of gestation to methanol intravenously or orally (doses ranged from 100 mg/kg of body weight to 2,500 mg/kg) or by inhalation (1,000 to 20,000 ppm for 8 hours). They measured blood, urine, and amniotic fluid concentrations of methanol and used the data to develop a model of methanol distribution in rodents.

Research Report 73
Bernard Weiss
Sander Stern
Sidney C Soderholm
Christopher Cox
Archana Sharma
Geoffrey B Inglis
Ray Preston
Marlene Balys
Kenneth R Reuhl
Robert Gelein
1996

Dr. Weiss and his colleagues at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry examined the effects of prenatal and early postnatal inhalation of methanol on selected measures of neurobehavior in rats. The investigators conducted a controlled series of experiments in which they exposed pregnant rats and their newborn offspring to 4,500 parts per million (ppm) methanol by inhalation, and then submitted them to tests of behavioral function.