Accountability

This page has a list of publications and news articles related to Accountability (evaluation of the effectiveness of actions to improve air quality). Find more information about our Accountability research.

Cardiorespiratory Biomarker Responses in Healthy Young Adults to Drastic Air Quality Changes Surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Research Report 174

Junfeng (Jim) Zhang

Tong Zhu

Howard Kipen

Guangfa Wang

Wei Huang

David Rich

Ping Zhu

Yuedan Wang

Shou-En Lu

Pamela Ohman-Strickland

Scott Diehl

Min Hu

Jian Tong

Jicheng Gong

Duncan Thomas

2013

Topics:

Particulate Matter

Accountability

Global Health

This report describes a study to evaluate a series of aggressive policies intended to reduce local and regional emissions in the greater Beijing metropolitan area leading up to and during the 2008 Olympics. Dr. Junfeng (Jim) Zhang of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and colleagues evaluated the impact of the likely changes in air pollution levels on cardiovascular responses in 125 healthy young participants before, during, and after the Beijing Olympics. The investigators used mixed models and time-series methods to analyze associations between pollutant levels and biomarkers.

Update Winter 2013

Newsletter

Health Effects Institute

2013

Topics:

Contents: Review of Ultrafine Particles Examines Wide Range of Health Studies; Timely Topics, Great City Highlight HEI Annual Conference; Tool Helps Identify Nanoparticles from Motor Vehicles; Air Pollution Controls During 2008 Beijing Olympics; Science Workshop to Inform European Union Policies; Study Finds Ambient Air Pollution Among Top Global Health Risks; ACES Emissions Testing and Animal Exposures Now Complete

Accountability Analysis of Title IV Phase 2 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments

Research Report 168

Richard D Morgenstern

Winston Harrington

Jhih-Shyang Shih

Michelle L Bell

2012

Topics:

This report describes a study that analyzed the relationships between reductions in pollutants from power plants and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations in the eastern United States between 1999 and 2005. Dr. Richard D. Morgenstern of Resources for the Future and colleagues used a novel data-driven source-receptor model to explore the statistical relationships between source emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides and monitored concentrations of PM_2.5. They performed various external comparisons of their models, and compared the reductions to an estimated counterfactual scenario in which no mandated reductions in SO₂ occurred.

Update Fall 2012

Newsletter

Health Effects Institute

2012

Topics:

This update describes a new Diesel Epidemiology Project; a call for Research Proposals: Improving Traffic Exposure Analysis for Health Studies; the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study nearing completion; a new member of the Research Committee; a visit from Japanese Auto Officials; and two new Research Reports on Potential Air Toxics Hot Spots in Truck Terminals and Cabs and on the Impact of 1990 Hong Kong Limits on Sulfur Content in Fuel.

Impact of the 1990 Hong Kong Legislation for Restriction on Sulfur Content in Fuel

Research Report 170

Chit-Ming Wong

Ari Rabl

Thuan Q Thach

Yuen Kwan Chau

King Pan Chan

Benjamin J Cowling

Hak Kan Lai

Tai Hing Lam

Sarah M McGhee

H Ross Anderson

Anthony J Hedley

2012

Topics:

Accountability

Global Health

This report describes a study to explore the role that specific chemical constituents of particulate air pollution may have played in effects on daily mortality observed after the 1990 Hong Kong restriction on sulfur in fuels. The study was part of HEI's Outcomes Research program, which aims to assess the health impacts of actions taken to improve air quality. Dr. Chit-Ming Wong of the University of Hong Kong and his team also developed methods to estimate the impacts on life expectancy of the 1990 sulfur restriction.

Update Summer 2012

Newsletter

Health Effects Institute

2012

Topics:

Contents: HEI research contributes to international (IARC) review of diesel and gasoline cancer risk; Annual Conference highlights new PM, diesel, and ozone findings, major issues; Air quality outcomes of national limits on power plant emissions; Study tests potential uses of satellite-based PM measurements.

Update Spring 2012

Newsletter

Health Effects Institute

2012

Topics:

Contents: Greenbaum Testifies on "Producing Credible Science for Decisions"; New HEI Health Effects Study of Modern Diesel Engine Emissions; Health Outcomes and Biomarkers Studies Approved; Multicity Study in Latin America; Air Pollution and Children's Health in Vietnam; HEI in the News; Communication 17: ACES Exposure Atmosphere; Annual Report Now Available; New Global Burden of Disease Estimates; HEI Investigator Wins Haagen-Smit Prize; Workshop on Assessing Exposure to Pollution from Traffic; IARC Review of Diesel and Gasoline Exhaust

Update Winter 2012

Newsletter

Health Effects Institute

2012

Topics:

Contents: Effects of Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles in Persons with Asthma and Allergy; Workshop Brings Experts Together: Atmospheric Chemists and Health Effects Scientists Meet at HEI to Discuss Common Goals; Symposium Sheds Light on Air Toxics Hot Spots; Wood Stove Changeout Program Brings Some Improvements in Health, Air Quality; Three New HEI Studies Launched: Ozone Exposure and Inflammatory Cells / PM Exposure and Heart Rhythm / Impact of Exposure in Early Life; ACES Reaches Important Milestones; New Investigator

Assessing the Impact of a Wood Stove Replacement Program on Air Quality and Children’s Health

Research Report 162

Curtis W Noonan

Tony J Ward

William Navidi

Lianne Sheppard

Megan Bergauff

Chris Palmer

2011

Topics:

Accountability

This report describes a study evaluating a community-wide program to improve air quality in a rural mountain community (Libby, Montana) by replacing older, more polluting wood stoves with new, less polluting stoves. Over the course of 4 winters, Dr. Noonan and colleagues measured PM_2.5 and markers for wood smoke outdoors, in schools, and in about 20 homes before and after stove changeout. In parallel, they tracked children's respiratory symptoms (based on parental surveys) and school absences.

The London Low Emission Zone Baseline Study

Research Report 163

Frank Kelly

Ben Armstrong

Richard Atkinson

H Ross Anderson

Benjamin Barratt

Sean Beevers

Derek Cook

David Green

Dick Derwent

Ian Mudway

Paul Wilkinson

2011

Topics:

Accountability

Global Health

This report describes a study evaluating the feasibility of studying potential changes in air quality and health associated with the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ), which went into effect in 2008 and restricts entry of older, more polluting vehicles into Greater London. Based on their earlier study of London's Congestion Charging Scheme, Dr. Kelly and colleagues conducted emissions and exposure modeling to estimate the projected effects of LEZ implementation. They also assessed the feasibility of using medical records from private practices to evaluate the relationships between exposure to traffic and indicators of respiratory and cardiovascular disease.