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) 

Research Report 212
Michael Brauer
Jeffrey R. Brook
Tanya Christidis
Yen Chu
Dan Crouse
Anders Erickson
et al.
2022

This report presents a comprehensive HEI study examining potential health risks from low levels of air pollution exposure in millions of Canadian citizens. Michael Brauer at The University of British Columbia and his colleagues combined satellite data, air monitor sampling, and atmospheric modeling to estimate outdoor PM2.5 exposures across Canada from 1981 to 2016.

Research Report 209
Mònica Guxens
Małgorzata J. Lubczyńska
Laura Pérez-Crespo
Ryan L. Muetzel
Hanan El Marroun
Xavier Basagaña
et al.
2022

Research Report 209 presents a study by Mònica Guxens of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and colleagues. The team used new neuroimaging technology to assess the possible relationship of air pollution exposure during pregnancy and childhood with brain outcomes in children. 

Research Report 211
Francesca Dominici
Antonella Zanobetti
Joel Schwartz
Danielle Braun
Ben Sabath
Xiao Wu
2022

Research Report 211 presents a major HEI study by Dr. Francesca Dominici of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and colleagues. The investigators examined the risk of mortality associated with exposure to low ambient air pollution concentrations in a cohort of 68.5 million older Americans. 

Research Report 210
Erin McDuffie
Randall V Martin
Hao Yin
Michael Brauer
2021

Research Report 210 presents a study conducted by Dr. Erin McDuffie and Dr. Randall Martin of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Michael Brauer at The University of British Columbia in Canada, and colleagues. The investigators produced the first comprehensive global estimates of contributions from the most common sources of air pollution to people’s exposure to fine particles and to the world’s burden of disease from various causes.

Research Report 208
Bert Brunekreef
Maciej Strak
Jie Chen
Zorana J Andersen
Richard Atkinson
Mariska Bauwelinck
et al.
2021

Research Report 208 presents a study by Bert Brunekreef at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and colleagues examining associations between exposures to relatively low levels of air pollution below the current EU standards and several health outcomes among participants in 22 European cohorts. 
 

Research Report 206
Jane E Clougherty
Jamie L Humphrey
Ellen J Kinnee
Lucy F Robinson
Leslie A McClure
Laura D Kubzansky
Colleen E Reid
2021

Research Report 206 presents a study led by Dr. Jane Clougherty at Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University. Clougherty and colleagues examined whether associations between community- and individual-level cardiovascular disease events and ambient air pollutants vary by social stressors.  

Research Report 205
Ying-Ying Meng
Jason G Su
Xiao Chen
John Molitor
Dahai Yue
Michael Jerrett
2021

Research Report 205 presents a study led by Ying-Ying Meng and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, examining the impact of the 2006 California Goods Movement Plan on air quality and healthcare utilization among adults with chronic health conditions who were enrolled in California’s healthcare program for low-income individuals (Medi-Cal).

Research Report 204
Kymberly Gowdy
Brita Kilburg-Basnyat
Myles X Hodge
Sky W Reece
Valery Yermalitsky
Sean S Davies
Jonathan Manke
Michael L Armstrong
Nichole Reisdorph
Robert M Tighe
S Raza Shaikh
2021

Research Report 204 presents a study led by Dr. Kymberly Gowdy of East Carolina University (now at Ohio State University) and colleagues in which they evaluated how acute exposure of mice to ozone affects initiation and resolution of the inflammatory response in the lung.

Research Report 201
Lydia M Contreras
Juan C Gonzalez-Rivera
Kevin C Baldridge
Dongyu S Wang
Jamie CL Chuvalo-Abraham
Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz
2020

Research Report 201 presents a study led by Dr. Lydia Contreras at the University of Texas, Austin, who is a recipient of HEI’s Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award. Dr. Contreras and colleagues evaluated how exposure of lung cells to volatile organic compounds plus ozone affects oxidation of ribonucleic acid, a key component of cells. The study aimed to improve understanding of the biological mechanisms by which air pollutants can cause effects in human health, thereby expanding our knowledge of potential causal links between exposure and health.

Research Report 192, Part 2
David Q Rich
Mark W Frampton
John R Balmes
Philip A Bromberg
Mehrdad Arjomandi
Milan J Hazucha
Sally W Thurston
Neil E Alexis
Peter Ganz
Wojciech Zareba
Petros Koutrakis
Kelly Thevenet-Morrison
2020

Research Report 192, Part 2, describes the second part of the Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES), led by Drs. David Rich and Mark Frampton of the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. Part 1 of the MOSES study, Effects of Exposure to Low Concentrations of Ozone on Respiratory and Cardiovascular Outcomes, was published in 2017; Part 2 presents additional analyses.