Publications

This report describes the results of a study of long-term effects of PM components in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study II cohort; a time-series study of short-term effects of PM components on cardiovascular and other diseases in people living in 150 U.S. cities; and two toxicologic studies in animals exposed by inhalation to concentrated ambient particles, and in animals and human cells exposed to particles collected on filters from five different airsheds across the United States. This report, along with Research Report 178 (Vedal et al.), is one of HEI's National Particle Component Toxicity (NPACT) studies, which describe the most systematic multidisciplinary studies to date to investigate the health effects of PM components in humans and animal models at locations across the United States where the effects of PM sources and components may differ. The report includes a Commentary and a Synthesis by the NPACT Review Panel.

This report revisits an earlier study of the air pollution and health impacts of a coal ban in Dublin, Ireland, and then extends the analysis to coal bans in 11 additional Irish cities. Dr. Douglas W. Dockery of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues evaluated changes in black smoke and sulfur dioxide concentrations for the 5 years before and after the coal bans and examined how those changes related to mortality and hospitalization rates in the counties affected by the bans, as compared with other counties where coal bans were not implemented. They also included in their analysis other trends in health and social factors that were occurring at the same time.

This newsletter reports on an expert panel named to review diesel epidemiology studies, two HEI Asia workshops on the global health impact of air pollution, and a meeting of HEI's Research Committee and sponsors reviewing progress and priorities, as well as HEI in the news.

This report describes a study in which a nano aerosol mass spectrometer (NAMS) was used to study composition of nanoparticles in real time near a major roadway intersection. Dr. Murray V. Johnston of the University of Delaware, Newark, and colleagues conducted a field test in Wilmington, Delaware, to evaluate performance of the instrument in a real-world setting and to assess whether it could aid in identifying the major source contributions to nanoparticle spikes and background levels, including distinguishing diesel from gasoline vehicles.