Particulate Matter

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

Research Report 131
Petros Koutrakis
Helen H. Suh
Jeremy A Sarnat
Kathleen Ward Brown
Brent A Coull
Joel Schwartz
2005

Dr. Koutrakis and his colleagues assessed the correlations between personal exposure to PM2.5 and gaseous copollutants and compare these measurements with those taken at central-site monitors. Three groups of possibly susceptible individuals (children, seniors, and individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) were recruited in two cities (Boston and Baltimore) in two seasons (summer and winter).

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.

Research Report 129
Fletcher F Hahn
Edward Barr
Margaret G Ménache
JeanClare Seagrave
2005

Dr. Hahn and colleagues systematically examined lung inflammation in young adult and old rats after inhalation of fine particles (< 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter) and ultrafine particles (< 0.1 µm in aerodynamic diameter) of different composition: relatively inert carbon and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), which contains the transition metal vanadium, known to cause toxic effects upon inhalation in humans in occupational settings. In addition, they examined the effect of a short-term increase (spike) in particle exposure concentration on inflammatory response.

Research Report 094-IV
Francesca Dominici
Antonella Zanobetti
Scott L Zeger
Joel Schwartz
Jonathan M Samet
2005

In Part IV of the Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study (NMMAPS), Dr Francesca Dominici and colleagues at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health addressed an important question resulting from the combined analysis of air pollution effects on mortality and on hospital admissions. Is the underlying true effect per unit PM10 on mortality (the mortality slope) of the same magnitude as the effect per unit PM10 on hospitalizations (the hospitalization slope) in a given city?

Research Report 124
Annette Peters
et al
Douglas W. Dockery
et al
2005

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.

Research Report 133
James J Schauer
Glynis C Lough
Martin M Shafer
William F Christensen
Michael F Arndt
Jeffrey T DeMinter
June-Soo Park
2006

To answer important questions about possible sources of metal exposure from both tailpipe and non-tailpipe emissions, Dr. James Schauer and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin - Madison collected and characterized metals in fine and coarse particles from a variety of sources, including tailpipe emissions, dust from brake and tire wear, and roadway dust.

Research Report 127
Bert Brunekreef
Nicole AH Janssen
Jeroen J de Hartog
Marieke Oldenwening
Kees Meliefste
Gerard Hoek
Timo Lanki
Kirsi L Timonen
Marko Vallius
Juha Pekkanen
Rene Van Grieken
2005

Dr. Brunekreef and his colleagues assessed the correlation between personal, indoor, and outdoor PM2.5 concentrations for elderly people with cardiovascular disease living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Helsinki, Finland. Measurements were taken between November 1998 and June 1999 using fixed monitoring sites near the subjects' residences and inside their homes using the same type of monitor. Personal exposures were monitored with a different type of sampler that the subjects kept with them at all times.

Research Report 126
Mark W Frampton
Mark J Utell
Wojciech Zareba
Günter Oberdörster
Christopher Cox
Li-Shan Huang
Paul E Morrow
F Eun-Hyung Lee
David Chalupa
Lauren M Frasier
Donna M Speers
Judith Stewart
2004

Dr. Frampton and his colleagues evaluated the effects of exposing healthy and mildly asthmatic men and women to laboratory-generated ultrafine carbon particles. They hypothesized that ultrafine particle exposure would activate leukocytes and endothelial cells and lead to an inflammatory response in the airway and in the blood; and that it also might affect respiration and cardiac electrophysiologic function. They further hypothesized that effects would be greater in people with asthma than in healthy people.

Research Report 123
Francesca Dominici
2004

This report describes a study funded under the Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award. Dr Francesca Dominici and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University developed more flexible methods and statistical models for the National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study database.

Research Report 122
Alison S Geyh
Susanne Hering
Nathan Kreisberg
Walter John
2004

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 PM2.5 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.