US EPA

A review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM) is currently underway. The Criteria Document was completed in October 2004, and a proposed decision to revise the PM NAAQS was published in January 2006. The final decision is to be signed by the Administrator by September 27, 2006. The EPA has conducted a provisional assessment of PM-health studies that have been published in recent years that were not included in the 2004 PM AQCD due to their being published after about April 2002. As in the last PM NAAQS review, EPA intends to conduct a review and assessment of any significant new studies published since the close of the Criteria Document, including studies submitted during the public comment period in order to ensure that, before making a final decision, the Administrator is fully aware of the new science that has developed since 2002. In this assessment, EPA will examine these new studies in light of the literature evaluated in the Criteria Document. This assessment and a summary of the key conclusions will be placed in the rulemaking docket.

The overall objective of this project is to provisionally assess the results of recently-published studies on the health effects associated with exposure to PM to assist with response to public comments and to help inform the Administrator’s decision on possible revision of the PM NAAQS.

U.S. EPA. Provisional Assessment Of Recent Studies On Particulate Matter (2006). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-06/063, 2006.