New Traffic-Related Emissions Research Funding Opportunity

This RFA seeks to fund studies that assess the effects of strategies, policies, or actions designed to reduce traffic-related emissions and related air pollution concentrations in the United States. Learn More!

Research Reports

HEI’s mission is to provide credible science to support environmental regulations and other policy decisions. The results of each HEI-funded project undergo peer review by outside scientists and the HEI Review Committee. The HEI Research Reports contain the Investigators' Report and the Review Committee’s evaluation of the study, summarized in a Commentary.

ISSN 1041-5505 (print)        ISSN 2688-6855 (online) 

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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Monitoring and Modeling Population Exposures to Air Pollutants from Oil and Gas Development: Part 1. Predictive, Source-Oriented Modeling and Measurements to Evaluate Community Exposures to Air Pollutants and Noise from UOGD

Research Report 240, Part 1
Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz
David Allen
Pawel Misztal
Elizabeth Matsui
Roger Peng
Yosuke Kimura
et al.
2026
Topics: 
Air Toxics
Ozone & Oxidants
Particulate Matter
Energy

This report presents a study led by Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz at The University of Texas at Austin. Hildebrandt Ruiz and colleagues examined population exposures to air emissions and noise in a major US oil and gas region and developed a model for use in multiple regions to predict population exposures and assess the effectiveness of interventions intended to mitigate emissions to the air. 

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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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