Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter IV. Continuing Research Progress (2004) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4 Looking Across the Research Topics
4 Looking Across the Research Topics
Pages 118-126
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 118... ...
Research findings would constitute the scientific basis for assessing the burden of disease associated with specific particle categories and for evaluating the potential effectiveness of various control strategies for protecting public health. The committee has given similar emphasis to the 10 topics, recognizing that all need to be addressed to have an evidence-grounded approach to controlling particulate air pollution.
|
From page 119... ...
Individuals with chronic lung disease have long been considered to be at increased risk for adverse effects of air pollution, based on compromised physiological reserve capacity. Dosimetry studies show that such persons haveenhanceddepositionofparticlesinthecentrallung,possibly contributing to increased risk.
|
From page 120... ...
In the committee's judgment, that assumption greatly oversimplifies complex biological phenomena that are influenced by PM and other pollutants. There are numerous physical and chemical characteristics of particles that are potentially relevant to their toxicity; however, to date, there is little information on the relationship betweenhealth outcomes and specific particle properties or source types.
|
From page 121... ...
The slow pace of research on assessing the hazardous components of PM may reflect not just the difficulty of the scientific questions but also the limitations of the investigator-initiated, hypothesis-driven approach to carrying out systematic screening across the matrix of particle characteristics and health outcomes that is the foundation for topic 5. A large array of questionsforinvestigationisdefinedwhenthediversity ofpossibly relevant particle characteristics is crossed with the broad range of potential health effects.
|
From page 122... ...
The shapes and relative positions of the three dose-response curves could likely be different for other health outcomes. Epidemiologists approach the topic of assessing hazardous PM components by carrying out research across locations having particles with different characteristics or across time periods over which particle characteristics might differ.
|
From page 123... ...
During the past 6 years, research on these topics focused mainly on examining the causal association between PM exposure and increases in risks for adverse health effects. Very few of the studies using in vitro or laboratory animal models have included more than one exposure or dose level, limiting progress in characterizing exposure-response relationships.
|
From page 124... ...
Also, exposure studies will be necessary to inform epidemiological investigations about relationships among personal exposures to hazardous PM components and ambient concentrations for susceptible subpopulations and the general public. MIXTURES AND COPOLLUTANTS Forsometime,investigatorshaverecognizedthatsurrogatesfor"dirty air" have been derived from assessing one pollutant at a time, and possible health effects attributed to a single pollutant have often been used in part to make regulatory decisions.
|
From page 125... ...
To date, limited human health effects research has been conducted to apportion the effects of single pollutants coexisting with other pollutants in complex mixtures (topic 7)
|
From page 126... ...
. Resultsofepidemiologicalresearchcouldprovidegreaterinformation about those components of PM and air pollution that can most impact health.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.