New SoGA 2025 Report

The report covers global air quality and health impacts, including data on noncommunicable diseases.
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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) 

Improved Source Apportionment and Speciation of Low-Volume Particulate Matter Samples

Research Report 153
James J Schauer
Brian J Majestic
Rebecca J Sheesley
Martin M Shafer
Jeffrey T DeMinter
Mark Mieritz
2010
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Particulate Matter
Innovation
Exposure Methods

This report investigates methods with the high sensitivity and low limits of detection needed to analyze a wide range of chemical species in particulate matter collected with personal samplers. Dr. Schauer and colleagues developed sensitive methods to detect trace metals, nonpolar organic compounds, and polar organic compounds in personal samples collected in exposure studies. Methods used in this study are of interest to researchers seeking to gain greater insight into the relationships between the components of inhalable particulates and their health effects.

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Evaluating Heterogeneity in Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution Using Land-Use Regression and Constrained Factor Analysis

Research Report 152
Jonathan I. Levy
Jane E Clougherty
Lisa K Baxter
E Andres Houseman
Christopher J Paciorek
2010
Topics: 
Innovation
Exposure Methods

This report explores how land-use regression and source-apportionment techniques can be used to characterize individual-level exposure to both indoor and outdoor air pollution sources. Dr. Levy and colleagues utilized health and air monitoring data from an ongoing prospective cohort study on childhood asthma in Boston, Massachusetts to model variability in outdoor and indoor residential air pollution, identify potential sources, and evaluate the effectiveness of various indoor exposure surrogates for predicting childhood asthma development.

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Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia (PAPA): Coordinated Studies of Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in Four Cities

Research Report 154
Haidong Kan
et al.
Zhengmin Qian
et al.
Nuntavarn Vichit-Vadakan
et al.
Chit-Ming Wong
et al.
2010
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Particulate Matter
Global Health

This report describes the first set of coordinated time-series studies ever undertaken in Asian cities: four time-series studies of the health effects of air pollution in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Wuhan. These studies were intended to help bridge the gaps between studies conducted in different locations around the globe.

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Pulmonary Effects of Inhaled Diesel Exhaust in Young and Old Mice: A Pilot Project

Research Report 151
Debra L Laskin
Gediminas Mainelis
Barbara J Turpin
Kinal J Patel
Vasanthi R Sunil
2010
Topics: 
Diesel Exhaust

This report explores the possible physiological basis for epidemiologic results suggesting that people over the age of 55 are more sensitive than younger people to the effects of exposure to particulate matter. Dr. Debra Laskin and colleagues hypothesized that this sensitivity resulted from the lung cells of the elderly producing less of the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (a cell protein involved in systemic inflammation), as compared with the lung cells of the young after exposure to air pollution.

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