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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 Health Review Committee. The HEI Research Reports contain the Investigator’s Report and the Review Committee’s evaluation of the study, summarized in a Commentary or short Critique.

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

A Dynamic Three-Dimensional Air Pollution Exposure Model for Hong Kong

Research Report 194
Benjamin Barratt
Martha Lee
Paulina Wong
Robert Tang
Tsz Him Tsui
Wei Cheng
Yang Yang
Poh-Chin Lai
Linwei Tian
Thuan-Quoc Thach
Ryan Allen
Michael Brauer
2018
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Particulate Matter
Traffic-related
Global Health
Exposure Methods

HEI’s Research Report 194 describes a study led by Benjamin Barratt of King’s College London, United Kingdom, that developed a dynamic three-dimensional land-use regression model for Hong Kong and used it to estimate exposure to traffic-related air pollution.

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Particulate Air Pollutants, Brain Structure, and Neurocognitive Disorders in Older Women

Research Report 193
Jiu-Chiuan Chen
Xinhui Wang
Marc Serre
Steven Cen
Meredith Franklin
Mark Espeland
2017
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Diesel Exhaust
Particulate Matter

Research Report 193 describes a novel study by Jiu-Chiuan Chen and colleagues examining possible associations between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and changes in the brains of older women in the United States. The study focused on brain volumes and neurocognitive outcomes, specifically mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Dr. Chen used neuroimaging and cognitive outcome data from women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study and estimated their exposure to ambient PM2.5 and to diesel PM.

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Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES): Part 1. Effects of Exposure to Low Concentrations of Ozone on Respiratory and Cardiovascular Outcomes

Research Report 192 Part 1
Mark W Frampton
John R Balmes
Philip A Bromberg
Paul Stark
Mehrdad Arjomandi
Milan J Hazucha
David Q Rich
Danielle Hollenbeck-Pringle
Nicholas Dagincourt
Neil E Alexis
Peter Ganz
Wojciech Zareba
Maria G Costantini
2017
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Ozone & Oxidants

HEI Research Report 192 describes a multicenter study by John Balmes at the University of California–San Francisco, Phil Bromberg at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and Mark Frampton at the University of Rochester, New York. The study was designed to test whether ozone has short-term cardiovascular effects at present-day ambient levels. It evaluated respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes in 87 healthy participants (60 years old on average) who were exposed to 0, 70, or 120 ppb ozone for 3 hours while exercising moderately.

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Protective Role of Eosinophils and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α after Ozone Inhalation

Research Report 191
Allison D Fryer
David B Jacoby
Sarah A Wicher
2017
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Ozone & Oxidants

Research Report 191 describes a study by Allison Fryer and colleagues that addressed how exposure to ozone affects the immune and physiological responses in guinea pigs. In her study, Dr. Fryer focused on eosinophils, white blood cells that play an important role in inflammation, allergies, and allergic asthma, and can modify the airway response to ozone inhalation. This study tested a novel hypothesis: that allergic guinea pigs react differently to ozone than normal animals because of newly formed eosinophils that migrate from bone marrow to the lungs.

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