Links: Health Effects of Emissions

Resources » Health Effects

Papers & Reports

Inside The Greenhouse: The Impacts Of CO₂ And Climate Change On Public Health On The Inner City: Harvard Medical School, April 2004
Rising levels CO₂, in addition to trapping more heat, promote plant pollen production, soil bacteria and fungi, and other effects causing damage to the respiratory system.
Health Assessment Document for Diesel Emissions: U.S. EPA, May 2002
The EPA has prepared a comprehensive assessment of the possible health hazards from human exposure to diesel engine exhaust emissions. The document focuses on health hazards (hazard identification and dose-response analysis for the purpose of recommending measures of risk/hazard), and also provides background information about diesel engine emissions.
Air Quality Criteria for Carbon Monoxide: U.S. EPA, August 2000
The EPA promulgates the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on the basis of scientific information contained in criteria documents. The last air quality criteria document for carbon monoxide (CO) was completed by EPA in 1991. This revised criteria document consolidates and updates the current scientific basis for another reevaluation of the NAAQS for CO, currently set at 9 ppm (10 mg/m³) for 8 h and 35 ppm (40 mg/m³) for 1 h.
Acute Pulmonary Effects of Ultrafine Particles in Rats and Mice: HEI, Report #96, August 2000 (pdf, 3.9MB)
The investigators conducted a study in mice and rats to address the issue of whether ultrafine particles induce an inflammatory response in the airways. The findings provide little evidence that inhaled ultrafine particles cause such inflammation.
Association of Particulate Matter with Mortality and Morbidity in Urban Populations: HEI, Report #95, August 2000 (pdf, 3MB)
HEI funded report which attempts to identify and characterize components of PM and other air pollution mixtures that are associated with excess daily deaths and elderly hospital admissions in and around the area of Detroit, MI.
National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study, Part I: HEI, Report #94, May 2000 (pdf, 1.2MB)
HEI funded the National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study (NMMAPS) to address the uncertainties regarding the association between PM and daily mortality, and to determine the effects of other pollutants on this association. This first report describes new analytic methods developed in this study.
National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study, Part II: HEI, Report #94, June 2000 (pdf, 5.7 MB)
This second report from the study describes the results of an analysis for effects of PM10 and other pollutants on mortality, which was conducted in 90 largest US cities. It was found that increased levels of PM10 are associated with increased mortality and hospital admissions.
Effects of Concentrated Ambient Particles in Rats and Hamsters: An Exploratory Study: HEI, Report #93, April 2000 (pdf, 853k)
Rats and hamsters were exposed to up to 10 times concentrated particulate matter derived from New York City ambient air. The investigators found little or no effect of concentrated ambient PM exposure on cardiac, mechanical pulmonary, or inflammatory measures in the animals they studied.
Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study II (MATES II): California SCAQMD, March 2000
Final report from a study which monitored a number of air pollutants in Southern California and attempted to quantify the risk of cancer from exposure to those chemicals. The highest cancer risk within the investigated group of air pollutants was attributed to diesel particulates.
Mechanisms of Morbidity and Mortality from Exposure to Ambient Air Particles: Health Effects Institute Report #91, February 2000 (pdf)
An HEI report on report on cardiac effects of exposure to ambient particulate matter.
Diesel Emissions and Lung Cancer: Epidemiology and Quantitative Risk Assessment: Health Effects Institute, A Special Report of the Institute’s Diesel Epidemiology Expert Panel, June 1999 (pdf)
The Panel examined diesel exhaust epidemiological studies: four railroad workers stusies (incl. Garshick) and three teamster studies, and recommended against using the railroad worker data as the basis for QRA in ambient settings. Further scrutiny of the teamster data is needed.
Identification of Diesel Particulate Emissions as a Toxic Air Contaminant -- Exposure and Health Assessment Documents: California ARB, 1998
Regulatory documents, including Exposure Assessment and Health Risk Assessment for Diesel Exhaust prepared by the Staff of California Air Resource Board.
U.S. EPA IRIS Substance File - Diesel Engine Emissions: U.S. EPA, 1993
Diesel Engine Emissions page in the EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database.

Web Sites

Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP): UK Department of Health
The web site includes COMEAP Statements and Reports (some in full text), meeting dates, agendas and minutes, as well as a listing of issues currently under discussion.
HEI Research Reports: Health Effects Institute
Listing of health effect research reports by the Health Effects Institute (direct links to some of these reports are provided in the "Papers & Reports" section above). Newer reports are available on-line.
NERC Engine Exhaust Health Effects Database: National Environmental Respiratory Center
A searchable database containing several thousand bibliographic citations for journal articles, conference papers, and technical or government documents related to health effects of engine exhaust and selected other types of atmospheres.