Project 1: Relative Toxicity of Air Pollution Mixtures

Project 3 (Framingham): Identifying the cognitive and vascular effects of air pollution sources and mixtures in the Framingham Offspring and Third Generation Cohorts

Some current challenges in research on air pollution and health.

This commentary addresses some of the diverse questions of current interest with regard to the health effects of air pollution, including exposure-response relationships, toxicity of inhaled particles and risks to health, multipollutant mixtures, traffic-related pollution, accountability research, and issues with susceptibility and vulnerability. It considers the challenges posed to researchers...

Lung Toxicity of Ambient Particulate Matter from Southeastern U.S. Sites with Different Contributing Sources: Relationships between Composition and Effects

BACKGROUND Exposure to air pollution and, more specifically, particulate matter (PM) is associated with adverse health effects. However, the specific PM characteristics responsible for biological effects have not been defined. OBJECTIVES In this project we examined the composition, sources, and relative toxicity of samples of PM with aerodynamic diameter </= 2.5 microm (PM2.5) collected from ...

Effectiveness of Dyes Removal by Mixed Fungal Cultures and Toxicity of Their Metabolites

Decolorization of brilliant green (0.06 g/L), Evans blue (0.15 g/L), and their mixture (total concentration 0.08 g/L, proportion 1:1 w/w) by fungi was studied. Fungal strains [Pleurotus ostreatus (BWPH), Gloeophyllum odoratum (DCa), and Fusarium oxysporum (G1)] were used separately and as a mixture of them. Zootoxicity (Daphnia magna) and phytotoxicity (Lemna minor) changes were estimated after...

Short-term effects of air pollution on health: a European approach using epidemiological time-series data. The APHEA project: background, objectives, design.

Recent studies investigating the adverse health effects of air pollution indicate that effects exist around and below the current national and international air quality guidelines and standards. However, the difficult methodological issues involved, and the diversity of analytical techniques so far applied, hinder direct between-study comparability and the drawing of clear conclusions. The APHE...