Publications

This report investigated the association of occupational exposure to nitrogen oxides with respiratory infections in British coal miners. Dr. Jacobsen and colleagues leveraged data from the Pneumoconiosis Field Research Study, a long-term epidemiological study of British coal miners with information for the years 1953-1978.

This report describes a study by Dr. King to investigate in rats the carcinogenic properties of nitropyrene and related compounds and how these compounds are metabolically activated in target tissues. Nitropyrenes and related nitroaromatics are of interest because of their ubiquity in diesel emissions and reported carcinogenicity.

This report investigated whether asthmatic and healthy adolescents differ in their sensitivity to near-ambient concentrations of ozone and nitrogen dioxide. Dr. Koenig and colleagues exposed healthy and asthmatic participants to concentrations of 0.12 and 0.18 ppm ozone or 0.12 and 0.18 ppm nitrogen dioxide during rest or rest followed by moderate exercise.

This report describes a study by Dr. Fechter to investigate the effect of prenatal and neonatal exposure to low levels of carbon monoxide (CO) on the developing rat brain. Groups of rats were exposed prenatally, or prenatally plus 10 days neonatally to take into account the fact that the developing rat brain is considerably less mature at birth than the primate brain. Consequently, rats were exposed to CO concentrations ranging from 75-300 ppm through the period of neuronal proliferation and into the period of synapse formation.

Dr. Yu's project addressed several important issues regarding improved quantification of dose from known concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter. By focusing first on a specific category of automotive-derived particles, diesel exhaust particulate, Dr. Yu was able to characterize those aerosol properties (such as the mass medican aerodynamic diameter and size distribution) that influence regional deposition. After formulating a mathematical deposition model, Dr.

Previous research has reported that the lung development of animals exposed to oxidant gases early in life might be impaired, or that developing lungs might be more susceptible than adult lungs to inhaled toxicants. Dr. Mauderly and colleagues at the Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute examined the age-related differences in the physiological responses of rats to inhaled automotive emissions. The younger group was exposed during gestation and through the age of six months, while the older group was exposed between the age of six and twelve months.

Research Report 7 describes a study that attempted to produce monoclonal antibodies to DNA adducts of nitropyrene that could be used to study the mechanism of nitropyrene-induced carcinogenesis or develop analytical techniques for monitoring exposed populations. Dr. Groopman immunized mice against nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons conjugated with a carrier protein to study the progression of immune response. Dr. Groopman injected four antigens into groups of BALB/c, AJ, and NZB mice. Two of the antigens failed to produce any immune response.

Dr. Bagley and colleagues at Michigan Technical University examined the chemical mutagenic effects of a ceramic particle trap on a medium-duty diesel engine. Diesel exhaust particles and vapor phase samples were collected from diluted (15:1) exhaust of a 10.4L displacement Caterpillar 3208 engine. The investigators compared uncontrolled (baseline) emissions with exhaust that had been modified by the use of an uncatalyzed monolithic ceramic trap.

The pulmonary epithelium is a cellular, avascular layer of tissue that is the first point of contact between the lung and inhaled pollutants. Previous research has indicated that altered epithelial permeability may be an early marker of subsequent lung damage. Dr. Crocker and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine sought to study the study the sites of epithelial injury in rat airways following inhalation of formaldehyde, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide.

Report of the Institute's Health Review Comittee, September 1985. Supplement, January 1988. This report contains a review of data on the health effects of unburnt gasoline vapors, and evaluates the need for a research program to address major unresolved issues, especially in regard to the carcinogenicity of gasoline vapors. The supplement summarizes additional data published between 1985 and 1988 in response to a proposed regulatory strategy to reduce hydrocarbon emissions from mobile sources.