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.

Save the Date: Virtual 2021 HEI Annual Conference starts April 6

January 12, 2021

The 2021 HEI Annual Conference will be held virtually with a series of seven webinars on Tuesdays in April and May 2021. More details and registration links to come. The series kicks off on April 6th with Climate Change, Air Quality, and Health.

HEI issues request for Rosenblith Award applications

December 21, 2020

HEI has issued RFA 20-2, the Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award. This RFA solicits proposals from promising candidates at the assistant professor level or equivalent for research on air pollution and health.

Brussels workshop report published

November 12, 2020

The November 2020 issue of the European Respiratory Journal contains a summary report of a joint scientific meeting of HEI, the World Health Organization, the European Respiratory Society, and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. The workshop was a key step in evaluating whether to update Europe’s air quality policies.

Join HEI December 2 for webinar on air pollution and COVID-19

November 11, 2020

The Health Effects Institute, the European Respiratory Society, and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology–Europe are organizing a December 2 webinar to discuss environmental health research needs and policies to inform the European Green Deal in these challenging times.

State of Global Air 2020 reports air pollution's impact on neonatal mortality

October 21, 2020

The newly released State of Global Air 2020 reports on the first comprehensive analysis of air pollution’s global impact on neonatal mortality. The analysis finds that outdoor and household particulate matter pollution contributed to the deaths of nearly 500,000 infants in their first month of life. As in previous years, the 2020 update of the State of Global Air report and accompanying website provides a comprehensive global report card on the levels and trends in air quality and health for every country in the world.

HEI celebrates UN’s first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies

September 3, 2020

Recognizing the need to reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from air, water, and soil pollution, the Members of the United Nations have called for an International Day of Clean Air on September 7, 2020. The day will bring awareness to the UN’s goal of reducing hazardous chemical contamination leading to human health effects by 2030, as well as decreasing the adverse environmental impact of cities. The Health Effects Institute has for the last four decades worked to improve scientific understanding of the nature of air pollution, its sources, and its impacts on human health.

New HEI report examines pollutant effects on lung cells

July 28, 2020

HEI has published Research Report 201, Understanding the Functional Impact of VOC–Ozone Mixtures on the Chemistry of RNA in Epithelial Lung Cells, led by Dr. Lydia Contreras at the University of Texas, Austin.

Research Report 201
Lydia M Contreras
Juan C Gonzalez-Rivera
Kevin C Baldridge
Dongyu S Wang
Jamie CL Chuvalo-Abraham
Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz
2020

Research Report 201 presents a study led by Dr. Lydia Contreras at the University of Texas, Austin, who is a recipient of HEI’s Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award. Dr. Contreras and colleagues evaluated how exposure of lung cells to volatile organic compounds plus ozone affects oxidation of ribonucleic acid, a key component of cells. The study aimed to improve understanding of the biological mechanisms by which air pollutants can cause effects in human health, thereby expanding our knowledge of potential causal links between exposure and health.

HEI seeks quality assurance consultants

July 23, 2020

HEI is seeking qualified contractors to provide quality assurance services for 13 research studies on air pollution and health.

New results from U.S. Medicare study of low-level exposure to air pollution and health

June 26, 2020

A new article published June 26 in the journal Science Advances —  “Evaluating the impact of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter on mortality among the elderly” by Wu and colleagues — reports on results from an HEI-funded study of the health effects of low levels of air pollution in some 68 million Medicare recipients (led by Francesca Dominici of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health).