TOPIC OF CONCERN - Clean Air

Our Involvement | Research | Other Resources

About Clean Air

The average adult breathes over 3,000 gallons of air every day. Children breathe even more air per pound of body weight and are more susceptible to air pollution.

Millions of people live in areas where urban smog, very small particles, and toxic pollutants pose serious health concerns. People exposed to high enough levels of certain air pollutants may experience burning in their eyes, an irritated throat, or breathing difficulties. Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause cancer and long-term damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems. In extreme cases, it can even cause death.

For a simple explanation about cleaning up air pollution, see the EPA’s Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act

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Our Involvement

The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences has received two current grants to study the association of air pollution with human health, including the largest research grant ever awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency and one related to diesel exhaust from school buses.

For six years the department hosted the the Northwest Center for Particulate Air Pollution and Health, one of five centers around the country funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency to study the effects of particulate air pollution on human health.

Our department's 60-year history with air quality is reviewed in "The Clearest Skies: A history of Seattle’s air pollution control efforts" (PDF download)

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Faculty

Courses

ENV H 449 Health effects of air pollution
ENV H 461 Air Pollution Control
ENV H 490 Community Air Pollution
ENV H 535 Inhalation Toxicology

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Centers, Institutes and Studies

Air pollution inside & out, winter 2007 issue of Environmental Health News
Professor Joel Kaufman received wide coverage for a study on air pollution and women's health, published in the Feb. 1, 2007 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine
Fire, Smoke & Health (archived site)
Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Air Pollution Study
Northwest Center for Particulate Air Pollution and Health (archived site)
School Bus Study

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Public Information

UW study nets surprising discovery in school bus pollution, KOMO TV August 22, 2006

Air Pollution and Human Health, Environmental Health News, Autumn 2004

Air Pollution and Infant Health, Environmental Health News, Winter 2004

Respiratory Diseases, Environmental Health News, Spring/Summer 2003

Trouble in Paradise: How a delicacy can make cooks sick, DEOHS Biennial Report 2001-2003

2002 field smoke study encouraging Spokane Spokesman-Review, June 8, 2004

Particulate air pollution, DEOHS Biennial Report 1999-2001

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Research

Research of previous graduate students

Ryan Wells Allen, PhD (2004): The estimated contributions of ambient and nonambient particulate matter to indoor concentrations and personal exposures (L.-J. Sally Liu)

Michael Compher, MS (2004): Children's exposure to diesel exhaust from school buses with different diesel engines - a pilot study (Sally Liu)

Heidi Curtiss, MPH (2006): Response to diesel exhaust inhalation among healthy subjects: Symptom, perception and physiologic measures (Joel Kaufman)

Eva Dale, MS (2004): Effect of PM2.5 on exhaled nitric oxide; A HEPA intervention field study (Tim Larson) 2004

Carrie Fields, MS (2003): Measurement of PM2.5 concentrations and cardiorespiratory health effect in adult subjects. (Jane Koenig)

Katia Harb, MS (2003): Cardiopulmonary effects of 300 ppb nitrogen dioxide in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma patients (Jane Koenig)

Christopher Jacomme, MS (2007): Field evaluation of a two-zone model used to predict workplace air contaminant concentrations (Michael Morgan)

Christopher Miele, MS (2007): Applying optical remote sensing techniques to monitor community particulate pollution (Michael Yost)

Erin O'Brien, MPH (2007): Gene-environment interactions in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air) (Joel Kaufman)

Spencer Olsen, MPH (2006): Fine particulate air pollution and all-cause mortality in a sample of older US veterans (Joel Kaufman)

Yolanda Sanchez, MS (2007): Temporal patterns of asthma hospitalizations in the Yakima Valley community of Washington (Matthew Kiefer)

Fiona Sands, MPH (2005): The effects of exposure to diesel exhaust on endothelial function as measured by brachial artery reactivity (Joel Kaufman)

Brian D. Smith, MPH (2007): The effect of surface charge, negative and bipolar ionization on the deposition of airborne bacteria (John Scott Meschke)

Victor Van Hee, MPH (2007): Traffic-related air pollution and left ventricular mass and function: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (Joel Kaufman)

Whitney Webber, MS (2006): Whitney Webber Comparison of methods to estimate on-bus pollution from diesel school buses -- a pilot study (Liu)

Debra Winterton, MS (1999): Polymorphisms as biomarkers for sensitivity to inhaled sulfur dioxide in subjects with asthma (Jane Koenig)

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Allen R, Larson T, Sheppard L, Wallace L, Liu L-JS. Use of real-time light scattering data to estimate the contribution of infiltrated and indoor-generated particles to indoor air. Environ Sci Technol 2003; 37:3484–3492.

Balmes, J, Barnhart S. Evaluation of Respiratory Impairment/Disability. In Murray and Nadel’s Textbook of Respiratory Medicine 4th Edition. Mason RJ, Broaddus VC, Murray JF and Nadel JA, editors. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 2005.

Carlsten C, Kaufman JD, Peretz A, Trenga CA, Sheppard L, Sullivan JH. Coagulation markers in healthy human subjects exposed to diesel exhaust. Thromb Res 2007 Feb 22; [Epub ahead of print]

Chow JC, Watson JG, Mauderly JL, Costa DL, Wyzga RE, Vedal S, Hidy GM, Altshuler SL, Marrack D, Heuss JM, Wolff GT, Pope CA 3rd, Dockery DW. Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: lines that connect. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2006 Oct;56(10):1368-1380.

Delfino RJ, Quintana PJE, Floro J, Gastañaga VM, Samimi BS, Kleinman MT, Bufalino C, Liu L J Sally, Wu CF, McLaren CE. Association of FEV1 with personal and microenvironmental exposure to airborne particulate matter in asthmatic children. Environ Health Perspect 112 (8): 932-941, 2004.

Dominici F, Sheppard L, Clyde M. Health effects of air pollution: A statistical review. Int Stat Rev 2003; 71:243–276.

Goss CH, Newsom SA, Schildcrout JS, Sheppard L, Kaufman JD. Effect of ambient air pollution on pulmonary exacerbations and lung function in cystic fibrosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2004; 169: 816–821.

Haneuse S, Wakefield J, Sheppard L. The interpretation of exposure effect estimates in chronic air pollution studies. Stat Med 2007 Jan 15; [Epub ahead of print]

Hernández-Garduño E, Brauer M, Pérez-Neria J, Vedal S. Wood smoke exposure and lung adenocarcinoma in nonsmoking Mexican women: a case-control study. Int J TB Lung Dis 2004; 8(3):377–383.

Janes H, Sheppard L, Lumley T. Case-crossover analyses of air pollution exposure data: referent selection strategies and their implications for bias. Epidemiology. 2005 Nov;16(6):717-726.

Karr C, Lumley T, Shepherd K, Davis R, Larson T, Ritz B, Kaufman J. A case-crossover study of wintertime ambient air pollution and infant bronchiolitis. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Feb;114(2):277-281.

Koenig JQ, Jansen K, Mar TF, Lumley T, Kaufman J, Trenga CA, Sullivan J, Liu LJ, Shapiro GG, Larson TV. Measurement of offline exhaled nitric oxide in a study of community exposure to air pollution. Environ Health Perspect 2003; 111(13):1625–1629.

Larson T, Gould T, Simpson C, Liu LJ, Claiborn C, Lewtas J. Source apportionment of indoor, outdoor, and personal PM2.5 in Seattle, Washington, using positive matrix factorization. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2004;54(9):1175-1187.

Lewtas J. Combustion Emissions: Contribution to air pollution, human exposure, cancer, reproductive effects, and cardiovascular disease In: Foster WM, Costa, D eds. Air Pollutants and the Respiratory Tract, 2nd Ed. NY: Marcel Dekker, 2005.

Koenig JQ, Mar TF, Allen RW, Jansen K, Lumley T, Sullivan JH, Trenga CA, Larson T, Liu LJ. Pulmonary effects of indoor- and outdoor-generated particles in children with asthma. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Apr;113(4):499-503.

Mar TF, Larson TV, Stier RA, Claiborn C, Koenig JQ. An analysis of the association between respiratory symptoms in subjects with asthma and daily air pollution in Spokane, Washington. Inhal Toxicol. 2004 Dec 1;16(13):809-15.

Mar TF, Jansen K, Shepherd K, Lumley T, Larson TV, Koenig JQ. Exhaled nitric oxide in children with asthma and short-term PM2.5 exposure in Seattle. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Dec;113(12):1791-1794.

Miller KA, Siscovick DS, Sheppard L, Shepherd K, Sullivan JH, Anderson GL, Kaufman JD. Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of cardiovascular events in women. N Engl J Med. 2007 Feb 1;356(5):447-458.

Nga NN, Chai SK, Bihn TT, Redding G, Takaro T, Checkoway H, Son PH, Van DK, Keifer M, Trungle V, Barnhart S. ISAAC-based asthma and atopic symptoms among Ha Noi school children. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2003; 14(4):272–279.

Rabinovitch N, Zhang L, Murphy J, Vedal S, Dutton S, Gelfand EW. Effects of wintertime ambient air pollution on asthma exacerbations in urban minority children with moderate to severe disease. J Allerg Clin Immunol 2004; 114(5): 1131-1137.

Regalado J, Perez-Padilla R, Sansores R, Paramo-Ramirez JI, Brauer M, Pare P, Vedal S. The effect of biomass burning on respiratory symptoms and lung function in rural Mexican women. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006 Oct 15;174(8):901-5.

Rich K, Brauer M, Vedal S, Petkau J. A case-crossover analysis of particulate air pollution and cardiac arrhythmia in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Inhal Toxicol 2004; 16: 363–372.

Schildcrout JS, Sheppard L, Lumley T, Slaughter JC, Koenig JQ, Shapiro GG. Ambient air pollution and asthma exacerbations in children: an eight-city analysis. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Sep 15;164(6):505-17.

Sheppard L. Acute air pollution effects: consequences of exposure distribution and measurements. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2005 Jul 9-23;68(13-14):1127-1135.

Shusterman D. Environmental nonallergic rhinitis. Clin Allergy Immunol 2007;19:249-266.

Shusterman D, Matovinovic E, Salmon A. Does Haber's law apply to human sensory irritation? Inhal Toxicol. 2006 Jun;18(7):457-471. Review.

Silkoff PE, Zhang L, Dutton S, Langmack EL, Vedal S, Murphy J, Make B. Winter air pollution and disease parameters in advanced pulmonary disease panels residing in Denver, Colorado. J Allerg Clin Immunol 2005; 115: 337–344.

Simpson CD, Katz BS, Dills R, Kalman DA. Determination of levoglucosan in atmospheric fine particulate matter. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 2004; 54:689–694.

Slaughter C, Lumley T, Sheppard L, Koenig J, Shapiro GS. Effects of ambient air pollution on symptom severity and medication use in children with asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2003; 91:346-353

Conference Presentations

Allen R. Ambient fine particulate matter, traffic, and aortic atherosclerosis, UW/UBC 19th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Conference, Semiahmoo, Washington Jan. 8-9, 2007

Carlsten C, Kaufman JD, Trenga CA, Curtiss H, Peretz A, Aulet M, Stewart JA, Larson TV, Sullivan JH. Blood coagulation markers in healthy subjects exposed to diesel exhaust, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Corey LM, Baker C, Luchtel DL. Cardiovascular effects in ApoE-/- mice following inhalational exposure to diesel exhaust, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Ireson R, Ondov J, Zielinska B, Weaver C, Engine, Easter M, Davey M, Hesterberg T, Lawson D, Liu L-JS. Explicit quantification of in-cabin concentrations of school bus exhaust and crankcase emissions using intentional tracers, Air & Waste Management Association, June 20–23, 2006, New Orleans

Jansen K, Allen RW, Koenig JQ, Mar TF, Larson TV, Lippmann M. Association between exhaled NO and daily personal exposure to ambient PM2.5 in adult subjects with respiratory disease, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Koenig JQ, Mar TF, Jansen K, Stapleton P, Farin F, Larson TV. GST status and associations between PM2.5 and FeNO in children with asthma, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Mar TF, Koenig JQ, Schreuder AB, Larson TV, Lumley T, Covert DS. Wintertime emergency department visits for asthma in children: Associations with airborne concentrations of fine particle mass, total fine particle carbon and ultrafine number count, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Peck EC, Trenga CA, Beyer RP, Bammler TK, Srinouanprachanh S, Sullivan JH, Farin FM, Kaufman JD. Gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy human volunteers exposed to diesel exhaust, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Peretz A, Sands FN, Sullivan JH, Trenga CA, Leotta DF, Gill EA, Stewart JA, Kaufman JD. Brachial artery response in humans exposed to diesel exhaust, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Sheppard L. Air pollution concentration sampling design in MESA Air, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology/International Society of Exposure Analysis, September 2006, Paris, France

Shusterman D. Nasal NO – A new tool to study nasal patency? UW/UBC 19th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Conference, Semiahmoo, Washington Jan. 8-9, 2007

Simpson C. Measurement of 1-nitropyrene metabolites in human urine: A potential marker for exposure to diesel exhaust, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology/International Society of Exposure Analysis, September 2006, Paris, France

Sullivan JH, Peretz A, Carlsten C, Moody MM, Trenga CA, Jansen KA, Kaufman JD, Stewart JA, Bammler TK, Hallstrand TS. Genomic analysis of the effects of diesel exhaust particles on asthmatic airways, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Sullivan JH, Trenga CA, Peretz A, Carlsten C, Farin FM, Curtiss HM, Stewart JA, Aulet MR, Larson TV, Wilkerson JH, Kaufman JD. Effect of controlled diesel exhaust exposures on levels of inflammatory cytokines and markers of endothelial activation in healthy adults, American Thoracic Society, May 19–24, 2006, San Diego

Takaro T. The Canadian longitudinal study of asthma and gene-environment interactions, UW/UBC 19th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Conference, Semiahmoo, Washington Jan. 8-9, 2007

Van Hee V. PM air pollution and congestive heart failure, UW/UBC 19th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Conference Semiahmoo, Washington Jan. 8-9, 2007

Vedal S. Traffic-related air pollution and mortality, UW/UBC 19th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Conference Semiahmoo, Washington Jan. 8-9, 2007

Vedal S. Mortality and short term exposure to particulate matter: Size of effect estimates, Air & Waste Management Association, June 20–23, 2006, New Orleans

Webber W, Davey M, Larson T, Liu L, Hesterberg T, Ireson R, Easter M, Lapin C, Zielinska B, Lawson D. Comparing three approaches of estimating bus self-pollution—a pilot study, Air & Waste Management Association, June 20–23, 2006, New Orleans

Wu C. Innovative optical remote sensing techniques: Particulate matter, Air & Waste Management Association, June 20–23, 2006, New Orleans

Wu C. Optical remote sensing for natural and anthropogenic emissions, Air & Waste Management Association, June 20–23, 2006, New Orleans

Zielinska B, Campbell D, McDaniel M, Ireson R, Weaver C, Davey M, Liu L-JS, Lawson D, Hesterberg T. Chemical characterization of diesel crankcase and tailpipe PM emissions, including a quantitative deuterated tracer for lubricating oil, Air & Waste Management Association, June 20–23, 2006, New Orleans

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Other Resources

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