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Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter I. Immediate Priorities and a Long-Range Research Portfolio (1998) / Chapter Skim
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6. Comparing the Committee's Recommendations with EPA's Research Plans
Pages 106-115

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From page 106...
... and the strategy by which they are in vested will be important factors in determining whether the nation successfully addresses key particulate-matter research topics in a timely and effective manner. To that end, the present NRC committee has begun to assess the degree to which EPA's current overall research efforts and plans concur with or differ from the committee's recom mendations for highest-priority research investments.
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From page 107...
... And by design, the agency is apparently not planning major research on dose-response questions until the year 2000. COMPARING EPA'S RESEARCH ALLOCATIONS WITH THE COMMI1lEE'S RECOMMENDED RESEARCH PORTFOLIO After the committee developed its recommendations for a portfolio of highest-priority particulate-matter research investments (Chapters 4 and 5)
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From page 109...
... However, several important overall differences in funding allocations and in timing of investments seemed apparent. The committee's recommended research portfolio differs from EPA'S plans with respect to some priorities, cost allocations, timing of research investments, and, in some cases, the specific approaches to important questions.
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From page 110...
... only about 3% of EPA's entire ~ 998 particulate-matter research budget appears to be focused on identifying the most hazardous components ofthe particulate-matter mixture. Merely measuring outcloor-air quality at stationary sites will be insuff~cient to help EPA meet the important goal of reducing the major gaps in knowledge about actual human exposures to biologically important components or characteristics of ambient particulate matter.
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From page 111...
... · Exposure-Dose-Response: Although the committee believes that major investments in dose-response research will not be very useful until further information on toxicological mechanisms is available, it recommends that carefully designed efforts begin immediately to develop biologically based models for deposition and fate of particulate matter in the respiratory tract of human subjects, especially for susceptible subpopulations. · Health Response: The committee notes that EPA has apparently proposed to make an appropriately large allocation of funds to research on health effects of exposure to particulate matter more than 50% ofthe total particulate-matter research budget.
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From page 112...
... EPA cannot assume that the implementation of the national PM25 monitoring network will provide useful data for improving research or risk assessments for particulate matter. Current plans (e.g., speciation of particulate matter at least every sixth day)
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From page 113...
... More chemical characterization of particulate matter would help to enable testing of more specific indicators than PM25 mass alone. The committee recommends that EPA re-evaluate its current plans for the PM25 monitoring program in light of this report.
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From page 114...
... 2. This may require that EPA consider redirecting some of the funds planned for immediate work on source characterization and modeling by the agency's intramural laboratories and applying them instead to increaseci intramural research on the relationships between ambient monitoring results and actual personal exposures, particularly for potentially susceptible subpopulations.
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From page 115...
... The agency should consider more fully the possibility that future research results might indicate that the expensive monitoring program is not measuring the most biologically important aspects of particulate matter. Such an inconsistency could undermine the credibility and effectiveness offuture control strategies and could underprotect susceptible subpopulations.
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Key Terms

  • monitoring program
  • susceptible subpopulations
  • extramural research
  • research investments
  • monitoring network

  • ambient monitoring
  • control strategies
  • intramural research
  • respiratory tract
  • monitoring platforms

  • source emissions
  • current epa
  • actual personal
  • source characterization
  • address key

  • ambient air
  • epa consider
  • monitoring techniques
  • biologically based
  • epidemiological studies

  • expensive monitoring
  • personal exposures
  • carefully designed
  • intramural laboratories
  • designed efforts

  • immediate priorities
  • interagency research
  • toxicological mechanisms
  • stationary sites
  • intramural investigations


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