Study evaluates metrics of exposure to traffic-related air pollutants in Atlanta

HEI has published Research Report 196, Developing Multipollutant Exposure Indicators of Traffic Pollution: The Dorm Room Inhalation to Vehicle Emissions (DRIVE) Study, which describes a study led by Dr. Jeremy A. Sarnat at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. HEI funded this work as part of its research program on exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Dr. Sarnat and his colleagues evaluated single- and multipollutant metrics of exposure to traffic-related air pollutants near and farther away from roadways. The measurements, conducted between September 2014 and January 2015, included air pollutant data from the Georgia Institute of Technology campus between 5 m and 2.3 km from the major highway running through Atlanta. The investigators evaluated exposure to pollutants measured outside, inside, and by personal monitors. They also evaluated biological markers (using metabolomics) in a panel of students living in dormitories close to or away from this traffic hotspot.