Publications

This page is a list of publications in reverse chronological order. Please use search or the filters to browse by research areas, publication types, and content types.

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Update Summer 2016

Health Effects Institute
2016
Newsletter

This edition of Update reports on HEI's presentation of GBD MAPS results at a major Chinese air pollution meeting; HEI's Annual Conference in Denver in May; two new HEI research reports on the effects of air pollution on birth and pregnancy outcomes; a meeting of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies at which HEI shared research results with diverse experts and regulators; and HEI's participation at a EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee meeting in June.

Ambient and Controlled Particle Exposures as Triggers for Acute ECG Changes

David Q Rich
Annette Peters
Alexandra Schneider
Wojciech Zareba
Susanne Breitner
David Oakes
Jelani Wiltshire
Cathleen Kane
Mark W Frampton
Regina Hampel
Philip K Hopke
Josef Cyrys
Mark J Utell
2016
Research Report 186

Using data from four previously completed studies (two panel studies and two controlled-exposure studies), David Rich and Annette Peters and their teams investigated potential mechanisms behind the effects of short-term exposure to PM2.5 and ultrafine particles on changes in cardiac rhythm, including heart rate variability and other ECG parameters.

Causal Inference Methods for Estimating Long-Term Health Effects of Air Quality Regulations

Corwin M. Zigler
Chanmin Kim
Christine Choirat
John Barrett Hansen
Yun Wang
Lauren Hund
Jonathan Samet
Gary King
Francesca Dominici
2016
Research Report 187

HEI Research Report 187 was funded as part of HEI’s Accountability research program, aimed at understanding whether actions to improve air quality have resulted in improved health outcomes. Corwin M. Zigler and his colleagues used existing and newly developed statistical methods to assess whether an intervention was causally related to changes in pollutant levels or health outcomes, and applied their methods in two well-developed case studies: effects of air quality interventions to reduce PM10 concentrations in nonattainment areas and the impact of installation of scrubber technologies on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Update Spring 2016

Health Effects Institute
2016
Newsletter

This newsletter reports on a third study under way in Europe to complete the comprehensive HEI effort to examine the potential health effects of air pollution at low levels; HEI's new research program focusing on the health effects of exposure to traffic-related pollution; and the GBD MAPS team's presentation of preliminary data on coal’s impact on health in China. In addition, it covers the publication of two new research reports covering novel statistical methods for studying pollutant mixtures and a “direct” approach evaluating the impact of air quality interventions through “causal inference” methods, as well as the retirement of HEI's Aaron Cohen, a strategy session held with HEI's sponsors, and HEI in the news.

Modeling of Multipollutant Profiles and Spatially Varying Health Effects with Applications to Indicators of Adverse Birth Outcomes

John Molitor
Eric Coker
Michael Jerrett
Beate Ritz
Arthur Li
2016
Research Report 183, Part 3

This report is Part 3 of HEI Research Report 183, Development of Statistical Methods for Multipollutant Research. It describes a study to develop and apply statistical methods to analyze the effects of multipollutant exposures on health, expanding beyond the two-pollutant approaches used in many studies to date. HEI funded three innovative studies in recent years to improve the tools for analyzing complex multipollutant exposures. In this last report from these studies, John Molitor and colleagues describe a Bayesian framework to identify spatial clusters of air pollution exposures — and other covariates such as socioeconomic status — and estimated pregnancy outcomes associated with those clusters, using a data set for Los Angeles county. 

Update Winter 2016

Health Effects Institute
2016
Newsletter

The Winter Update newsletter features the upcoming HEI Annual Conference (sign up now!), a new member of the Review Committee, and a Global Burden of Disease Workshop in Mumbai, India, to calculate air pollution’s impact on global health. Also read about HEI’s study of changes in emissions in tunnels with the advent of new technology and HEI’s pending move to a new home.

Annual Report 2015

Health Effects Institute
2016
Annual Report

The 2015 Annual Report – Vision 2020 - describes HEI’s partnership with scientists, government, industry, and the environmental community to provide high-quality, impartial, and relevant science to inform public policy decisions about air quality and public health. The report highlights the vision underlying HEI’s Strategic Plan 2015-2020 and outlines HEI’s contributions in the past year to important questions.

Analysis of Personal and Home Characteristics Associated with the Elemental Composition of PM2.5 in Indoor, Outdoor, and Personal Air in the RIOPA Study

Patrick H Ryan
Cole Brokamp
Zhi-Hua (Tina) Fan
MB Rao
2015
Research Report 185

This report describes a study by Dr. Patrick Ryan at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He used the RIOPA data – which HEI has made available to all scientists on the Web to further explore relationships among the elemental composition of indoor, outdoor, and personal PM2.5 samples collected at participant’s homes. His analyses included traditional and novel approaches to comparing the samples.

Executive Summary. The Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES)

Health Effects Institute
2015
Communication - ACES

This Executive Summary of the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES) summarizes the main findings of emissions and health testing of new-technology heavy-duty diesel engines capable of meeting US 2007/2010 and EURO VI/6 diesel emissions standards. The results demonstrated the dramatic improvements in emissions and the absence of any significant health effects (especially cancer). ACES was the most comprehensive examination done to date of engines meeting the US 2007 and 2010 on-road standards.

Diesel Emissions and Lung Cancer: An Evaluation of Recent Epidemiological Evidence for Quantitative Risk Assessment

HEI Diesel Epidemiology Panel
2015
Special Report 19

Special Report 19 contains the intensive review and analysis of the newest studies of mine and truck workers exposed to older diesel engine exhaust conducted by an Expert Panel appointed by the HEI Board of Directors. In its report, HEI's Diesel Epidemiology Panel concluded that the studies are well prepared and are useful for applying the data to calculate the cancer risk due to exposure to diesel exhaust.

Update Fall 2015

Health Effects Institute
2015
Newsletter

This newsletter reports on the approval of new HEI studies to examine potential health effects of low-level pollution; the completion of a review of diesel exhaust studies (Special Report 19) by an HEI-appointed panel; and WHO's plans to update global air quality guidelines. In addition, it announces the publication of an HEI report taking a closer look at exposure to PM2.5 and its composition and a report evaluating rapid heart rhythm changes after exposure to PM. HEI also announces the recipient of the 2015 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award and the appointment of three new HEI Research Committee members.

Strategic Research Agenda on the Potential Impacts of 21st Century Oil and Natural Gas Development in the Appalachian Region and Beyond

HEI Special Scientific Committee on Unconventional Oil and Gas Development in the Appalachian Basin
2015
Strategic Research Agenda

Unconventional oil and natural gas development is a driving force behind significant economic and energy policy shifts in the United States and the world today. Technological advances in development are substantially increasing energy supplies, while at the same time outpacing the scientific research that can answer questions about the development’s potential effects.

Update Summer 2015

Health Effects Institute
2015
Newsletter

This issue reports on the publication of an Executive Summary highlighting ACES new-technology diesel results, which describes significant improvements in new diesel engines; a conference showcasing HEI science and emerging research opportunities; interest worldwide in ACES findings; how HEI staff are communicating results; the status of the oil and gas research agenda being drafted by HEI; and the status of the MOSES testing of ozone study subjects.

Development of Statistical Methods for Multipollutant Research

Brent A Coull
et al.
Eun Sug Park
et al.
2015
Research Report 183, Parts 1 and 2

This report contains two studies, by Drs. Brent A Coull and Eun Sug Park and their colleagues, and a Commentary discussing each study individually, as well as an Integrative Discussion of the two. 
Part 1. Statistical Learning Methods for the Effects of Multiple Air Pollution ConstituentsBrent A. Coull et al.
Part 2. Development of Enhanced Statistical Methods for Assessing Health Effects Associated with an Unknown Number of Major Sources of Multiple Air Pollutants. Eun Sug Park et al. 

Update Spring 2015

Health Effects Institute
2015
Newsletter

Contents: HEI's Strategic Plan for 2015–2020 Now Under Way;  Greenbaum Chairs NRC Review of U.S. Climate, Health Assessment; O'Keefe Closes Out Successful Run on Key Air Advisory Committee; Communicating Results - HEI Science Highlighted at EPA Workshops HEI in the News - Wide Audience for ACES Findings; Novel Statistical Methods for Studying Pollutant Mixtures; Journal Spotlights NPACT Studies; Eyes on the Future - HEI Sponsors Meet with Research Committee to Discuss the Path Forward;  Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award Announced

HEI's Strategic Plan 2015-2020

Health Effects Institute
2015
Strategic Plan

HEI has launched its Strategic Plan for Understanding the Health Effects of Air Pollution for the coming five years, guiding HEI’s direction based on extensive input from sponsors, the scientific community, environmental organizations, and others. The Plan seeks to produce timely and credible science to inform key decisions with one overarching theme: informing decisions on air quality and on climate-driven technology for 2015-2020…and beyond.

Update Winter 2015

Health Effects Institute
2015
Newsletter

Contents: Major Report on Newest Diesel Engines - No Evidence of Lung Cancer in Rats after Lifetime Exposure to New-Technology Diesel Exhaust; Sign Up Now for HEI's Annual Conference 2015 in Philadelphia in May; Nominations for Committee Membership Invited; Progress on Strategic Research Plan for Oil and Gas; Better Air Quality Meeting in Sri Lanka

Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES): Lifetime Cancer and Non-Cancer Assessment in Rats Exposed to New-Technology Diesel Exhaust

Jacob D McDonald
Jeffrey C Bemis
Lance M Hallberg
Daniel J Conklin
2015
Research Report 184

This report describes four studies conducted as a single phase (Phase 3B) of HEI's Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES) program, which was designed to evaluate the emissions and health changes resulting from substantially improved diesel engines required under the U.S. EPA 2007–2010 Heavy Duty Diesel Rule. These studies were conducted by Drs. Jacob D. McDonald of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jeffrey C. Bemis of Litron Laboratories, Rochester, New York, Lance M. Hallberg of the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, and Daniel J. Conklin, University of Louisville, Kentucky.

Synergistic Effects of Particulate Matter and Substrate Stiffness on Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

Thomas H Barker
Marilyn M Dysart
Ashley C Brown
Alison M Douglas
Vincent F Fiore
Armistead (Ted) G Russell
2014
Research Report 182

This report is a study focused on lung tissue repair processes after inflammation and injury resulting from exposure to particulate matter (PM) from combustion sources. Dr. Thomas H. Barker of Georgia Institute of Technology, a recipient of HEI's Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award, and his colleagues tested the hypotheses that alveolar epithelial cells grown on substrates of increasing stiffness would transition to mesenchymal cells — an early step along the pathway to fibrosis — and that the addition of fine PM would enhance these effects.

Update Fall 2014

Health Effects Institute
2014
Newsletter

Contents: Setting a Course for 2020: The HEI Strategic Plan; RFA Seeks New Epidemiologic Studies; HEI Launches New International Project // Group of Experts Will Estimate Global Burden of Disease from Specific Major Air Pollution Sources; Communicating Results of Research; How PM May Affect Epithelial Cell Differentiation; Progress on Major Ozone Study; Panel Tours Gas Well Sites

Update Summer 2014

Health Effects Institute
2014
Newsletter

Contents: Conference Eyes Future of Air Pollution Research, Policy; Leading Health Expert to Chair Review Committee; Workshop on Unconventional Oil and Gas Development; Developing New Models for Ultrafine Particles and Air Toxics Exposures; Sharing Insight from NPACT Setting Research Priorities (Research Planning Meeting); HEI in the News; HEI Strategic Plan 2015-2020 Taking Shape

Development and Application of an Aerosol Screening Model for Size-Resolved Urban Aerosols

Charles O Stanier
Sang-Rin Lee
2014
Research Report 179

This report describes a study in which a model to simulate the dispersion of ultrafine particles near roadways was developed and tested. Understanding what happens to ultrafines near roadways – and how that influences exposure – is a key area that HEI's Perspectives 3 on ultrafines (2013) identified. Dr. Charles Stanier at the University of Iowa–Iowa City, a recipient of HEI's Walter A.

Personal Exposure to Mixtures of Volatile Organic Compounds: Modeling and Further Analysis of the RIOPA Data

Stuart Batterman
Feng-Chiao Su
Shi Li
Bhramar Mukherjee
Chunrong Jia
2014
Research Report 181

This report describes a study to identify factors that influence exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and VOC mixtures. Dr. Stuart Batterman at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor and colleagues used the extensive data that HEI posted on the Web from the Relationships of Indoor, Outdoor, and Personal Air (RIOPA) study (HEI Research Report 130 Parts I and II), and data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), to characterize exposure distributions for 15 VOCs, with an emphasis on high concentrations. Factors examined included geographic location, weather, characteristics of participants' homes, and specific activities, such as pumping gas.

Update Spring 2014

Health Effects Institute
2014
Newsletter

Contents: HEI Research Committee Welcomes a New Epidemiologist; Ultrafine Particles Study Focuses on School Buses; New Initiative Addresses Unconventional Oil and Gas Development; A Growing Audience for HEI's Web Site; Sponsors, Research Committee Meet in Boston;  Assessing Diesel Epidemiology Studies; Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award

Characterizing Ultrafine Particles and Other Air Pollutants In and Around School Buses

Yifang Zhu
Qunfang Zhang
2014
Research Report 180

This report describes a study that assessed levels of ultrafine particles and other pollutants around diesel engine school buses and identified factors contributing to those levels. Dr. Yifang Zhu at the University of California–Los Angeles, a recipient of HEI's Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award, measured pollutant levels in and around school buses while driving, while idling, before and after retrofitting with a diesel particle filter and/or oxidation catalyst, and before and after installing an in-cabin filtration system.