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2003 Progress Report: A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)

EPA Grant Number: R828678C004
Subproject: this is subproject number 004 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R824834
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)
Center Director: Beskid, Craig
Title: A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
Investigators: Beskid, Craig
Institution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute , University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
EPA Project Officer: Stacey Katz/Gail Robarge,
Project Period: January 2, 2001 through December 31, 2005 (Extended to December 31, 2008)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 2, 2003 through December 31, 2004
RFA: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) (1997)
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Targeted Research

Description:

Objective:

The primary objectives of this research are to:

  1. Characterize the distribution of exposures to selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for a subset of the U.S. population by obtaining 48-72 hour measurements of personal exposure to selected VOCs for 1,000 individuals between the ages of 20 and 59 years, selected as a representative subsample of this subgroup of the U.S. population. Information on levels of exposure to these compounds is essential to determine the need for regulatory mechanisms to reduce the levels of air toxics to which the general population is exposed.
  1. Examine the relationship between personal exposure to selected VOCs and health status, as well as demographic, economic, and behavioral characteristics obtained from interview data; and examine the variation in personal exposures of study subjects to VOCs in relation to these factors.

Progress Summary:

Under the collaborative agreement between the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC), data were collected for the three-year period 1999-2001. NCHS has now set a schedule to publicly release data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Project every two years instead of every three years. Under this schedule, the 1999-2000 VOC Project (initiated under a previous grant, Grant No. R824834C004, and continued under this grant) data may be eligible for public release, and the third year of the data set will be made available through the NCHS Research Data Center. NCHS began a thorough review of quality control data early in 2003 and this required reformatting quality control data provided by the two laboratory contractors that had participated in the analyses of exposure data for the project. NCHS reviewed the methods used and the results obtained by the two contractors, and found the results compatible with their requirements.

During 2003, NCHS has furnished results of some analyses of VOC Project data to NUATRC staff for review and discussion, and meetings and phone conference calls have been held on a regular basis. NCHS has stated that some further investigation of compatibility of data across the two laboratories will be necessary before data can be released. An Expert Panel will be convened in early 2004 to review the project’s history and make recommendations regarding the release of VOC Project data. The Panel will consider such questions as whether the results presented by the two laboratory contractors are comparable; how to evaluate comparability of results; and what caveats, if any, should be included with the release of these data.

It is anticipated that, after the conclusion of the Expert Panel Workshop, a publication will be prepared that explains the purpose of the VOC Project and provides descriptive information about exposures to these VOCs that the data set contains.

Because of the confidentiality requirements associated with the NHANES Project, no publications have been prepared. After the public release of NHANES data by NCHS, it will be possible to use these data to conduct analyses and prepare manuscripts.

Future Activities:

Preparations for the Expert Panel Workshop will take place early in 2004, including recruitment of Panel members and preparation of materials for Panel members. NCHS staff will prepare analyses of Project data in advance of the Workshop.

After the Expert Panel has made recommendations regarding data release, NCHS staff will prepare data for release. A paper will be written describing the VOC Project and the available data, and will be submitted to a peer-review journal. Researchers will be able to access these data, which provide a profile of VOC exposures for a representative national subpopulation, and will be able to conduct further analyses, using not only the VOC exposure data set, but the corresponding demographic, behavioral, economic and health status data collected as part of the NHANES Project.

Supplemental Keywords:

HUMAN HEALTH, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Air, Scientific Discipline, Health, RFA, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Risk Assessment, Biology, Risk Assessments, genetic susceptability, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, air toxics, Chemicals, Atmospheric Sciences, particulate matter, Environmental Chemistry, Exposure, Air Pollution, biomarkers, exposure assessment, environmental hazard exposures, airborne urban contaminants, acute exposure, Acute health effects, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), air contaminant exposure, co-pollutants, air quality, cardiopulmonary response, fine particles, industrial air pollution, cardiopulmonary responses, human health risk, lung inflammation, toxics, acute cardiovascular effects, air pollutants, chronic health effects, PM 2.5, sensitive populations, acute lung injury, atmospheric chemistry, inhaled, atmospheric particulate matter, copollutant exposures, long term exposure, human susceptibility, demographics, behavioral characteristics, human exposure, particulate exposure
Relevant Websites:

http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/mleland exit EPA

Progress and Final Reports:
2001 Progress Report
2002 Progress Report
Original Abstract
2004 Progress Report
2005 Progress Report


Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R824834    Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R824834C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles - A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R824834C002 Cardiopulmonary Response to Particulate Exposure
R824834C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R824834C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R824834C005 Methods Development Project for a Study of Personal Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants
R824834C006 Relationship Between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA)
R824834C007 Development of the "Leland Legacy" Air Sampling Pump
R824834C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Urban Residences
R824834C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R824834C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles—A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R828678C002 Cardiopulmonary Effects of Metal-Containing Particulate Exposure
R828678C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R828678C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R828678C005 Oxygenated Urban Air Toxics and Asthma Variability in Middle School Children: A Panel Study (ATAC–Air Toxics and Asthma in Children)
R828678C006 Relationship between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA). Part II: Analyses of Concentrations of Particulate Matter Species
R828678C007 Development of the “Leland Legacy” Air Sampling Pump
R828678C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor PAHs in Urban Residences 98-03B
R828678C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R828678C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C011 A Pilot Geospatial Analysis of Exposure to Air Pollutants (with Special Attention to Air Toxics) and Hospital Admissions in Harris County, Texas
R828678C012 Impact of Exposure to Urban Air Toxics on Asthma Utilization for the Pediatric Medicaid Population in Dearborn, Michigan
R828678C013 Field Validation of the Sioutas Sampler and Leland Legacy Pump – Joint Project with EPA’s Environmental Technology Validation Program (ETV)
R828678C014 Performance Evaluation of the 3M Charcoal Vapor Monitor for Monitor Low Ambient Concentrations of VOCs
R828678C015 RIOPA Database Development
R828678C016 Contributions of Outdoor PM Sources to Indoor and Personal Exposures: Analysis of PM Species Concentrations” Focused on the PM Speciation and Apportioning of Sources
R828678C017 The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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