Publications

A Special Report of the Institute's Oxygenates Evaluation Committee. Oxygenated fuel (usually referred to as oxyfuel) was formulated to reduce carbon monoxide emissions and contains at least 2.7% oxygen by adding methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) or ethanol. Reformulated gasoline was formulated to help reduce ground-level ozone concentrations and contains at least 2% oxygen, has a reduced content of benzene and other aromatic compounds, and produces limited emissions of total air toxics. The introduction of fuels containing oxygenates elicited concerns from workers and the general public in some areas, including reports of unpleasant odors, headaches, or other symptoms attributed to the fuels, and questions about their effects on the cost of gasoline, the performance of engines, and fuel economy. This Special Report summarizes an intensive review of (1) the existing science of the health effects of oxygenates, (2) the risk evaluations done by the EPA in 1993 and 1994, and (3) in a qualitative way, the health effects of exposure to the new additives as they relate to the health effects of other pollutants whose levels in emissions change when fuels containing oxygenates are used.

In Part III of this study, Dr. Belinsky and his associates at the Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute examined lung tumors from rats that had inhaled high concentrations of diesel engine exhaust or carbon black particles (see Part I by Dr. Joe Mauderly). The investigators applied molecular biology techniques to measure mutations in selected genes in the DNA from the tumors.

Dr. Beland and his associates at the University of Arkansas School of Medical Sciences developed an assay to measure mutations induced by dinitropyrenes, a class of diesel engine exhaust, in rats. The investigators analyzed the mutations in a selected gene in spleen T lymphocytes from rats treated with 1,6-dinitropyrene under conditions that induced lung tumors at the highest dose tested. They also examined DNA adduct levels in lung and liver tissues and in spleen lymphocytes and white blood cells.

The Phase I.A Report of the Particle Epidemiology Evaluation Project. The Health Effects Institute began the Particle Epidemiology Evaluation Project in 1994 to evaluate the emerging epidemiologic evidence of a relation between particulate air pollution and daily mortality. In Phase I.A, Drs. Jonathan M. Samet and Scott L. Zeger and their colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health (1) reconstructed from original sources the data set for Philadelphia used in earlier studies and confirmed previous numerical results from analyzing these data; (2) developed an analytic approach (including new statistical methods) based on the Philadelphia data set; and (3) applied this approach to data sets for six locations: Philadelphia; Utah Valley; St. Louis, MO; Eastern Tennessee; Birmingham, AL; and Santa Clara County, CA.