You are here:
PREFACE TO SPECIAL SECTION ON PARTICULATE MATTER: ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, EXPOSURE, AND THE FOURTH COLLOQUIUM ON PARTICULATE MATTER AND HUMAN HEALTH
Citation:
Brock, C. A., D J. Eatough, AND P A. Solomon. PREFACE TO SPECIAL SECTION ON PARTICULATE MATTER: ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, EXPOSURE, AND THE FOURTH COLLOQUIUM ON PARTICULATE MATTER AND HUMAN HEALTH . JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH: ATMOSPHERES 109(D16):1-3, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
Develop and evaluate methods for the sampling and analysis of PM in ambient air, with emphasis on FRM/FEM for PMc, measurement of carbonaceous aerosols, measurement of biogenic aerosols, comparisons measurements from the STN and IMPROVE monitoring networks, and continuous methods for PM mass and its chemical components.
Description:
In response to epidemiological studies published over twenty years ago, at least three research communities have been intensively studying airborne particulate matter (PM). These efforts have been coordinated by approaching the source - atmospheric accumulation/receptor - exposure - dose - health effects paradigm (adopted from NRC, 2001) from different perspectives or along different parts of the paradigm. The atmospheric sciences communities consider the emissions of particles and precursors from sources, their transport and transformation in air to receptor locations, and finally removal from the atmosphere. The exposure communities' interest is to examine the pathways by which pollution or particulate matter, in this case, approaches and enters the body, typically by trying to relate PM concentrations at a central location(s) to exposure and perhaps dose. Both the atmospheric sciences and exposure communities approach the paradigm from left to right. In contrast, the health effects communities have studied health outcomes, including hospital admissions, school absences, disease rates and deaths in human populations, and potential mechanisms of biological actions in laboratory settings. In general, the health effects communities' approach the paradigm from right to left attempting to correlate an observed adverse health effect with dose or exposure measures. For the most part, research results are reported in scientific publications and conferences for each community respectively. Over the years, there has been little effort to integrate information from these diverse groups in a substantive way. While a major attempt took place in 1998 at the Chapel Hill workshop (Albritton and Greenbaum, 1998), little has occurred since.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded and managed the preparation of this preface. It has been subjected to Agency's administrative review and approved for publication as an EPA document.