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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) 

Acute Effects of Ambient Ozone on Asthmatic, Wheezy, and Healthy Children

Research Report 82
Edward L Avol
William Navidi
Edward B Rappaport
John M Peters
1998
Topics: 
Ozone & Oxidants

Dr. John Peters and colleagues of the University of Southern California School of Medicine compared the lung function, respiratory symptoms, activity levels, and bronchodilator use of 10- to 12-year-old healthy, asthmatic, and wheezy children. They conducted the study in Southern California during mid-spring (when ozone levels were expected to be low) and late summer (when ozone levels were expected to be high).

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Methods Development for Epidemiologic Investigations of the Health Effects of Prolonged Ozone Exposure

Research Report 81
Ira B Tager
Patrick L Kinney
1998
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Ozone & Oxidants
Innovation
Exposure Methods

Dr. Ira Tager and colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB), and Dr. Patrick Kinney and colleagues at the School of Public Health, Columbia University objectives were to develop new methods for estimating an individual's past exposure to ozone.

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Mechanism of Oxidative Stress from Low Levels of Carbon Monoxide

Research Report 80
Stephen R Thom
Harry Ischiropoulos
1997
Topics: 
Carbon Monoxide

Dr. Thom and Dr. Ischiropoulos at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center examined the effects of low concentrations of carbon monoxide on platelets and cells isolated from blood vessels. The investigators exposed blood platelets (taken from rats) and endothelial cells (isolated from bovine blood vessels) to varying concentrations of carbon monoxide and measured how much nitric oxide was released. To determine if exposure to carbon monoxide causes endothelial cells to produce peroxynitrite, the investigators looked for markers of its presence in the culture medium and in the cells.

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Improvement of a Respiratory Ozone Analyzer

Research Report 79
James S Ultman
Abdellaziz Ben-Jebria
Craig S MacDougall
Marc L Rigas
1997
Topics: 
Ozone & Oxidants
Biological Methods

Dr. Ultman and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University redesigned their first-generation analyzer that measures the dose of inhaled ozone to reduce electronic noise (interference) and improve the signal's stability. To do so, they adjusted each parameter that influenced the analyzer's performance: the flow of the air sample into the instrument, the pressure in the chamber where the air sample and the reactant gas mixed, the relative amounts of the reactant gas and air sample, and electronic variables (frequency and voltage).

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Pharmacokinetics of Methanol and Formate in Female Cynomolgus Monkeys Exposed to Methanol Vapors

Research Report 77
Michele A Medinsky
David C Dorman
James A Bond
Owen R Moss
Derek B Janszen
Jeffrey I Everitt
1997
Topics: 
Air Pollution
Air Toxics
Emerging Technologies
Fuels & Fuel Additives

Dr. Medinsky and colleagues of the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology sought to determine how formate, a metabolite produced when methanol is broken down by the body, is formed and removed in monkeys after they have been exposed to methanol vapors. The investigators exposed female cynomolgus monkeys to environmentally relevant concentrations (10, 45, or 200 parts per million) of methanol vapors and to one high dose (900 ppm) for two hours.

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