HEI's mobile air toxics project.

A recent report of the Health Effects Institute (HEI), Research Priorities for Mobile Air Toxics (1), provides information on research capable of narrowing uncertainties related to health effects of specific mobile-source air pollutants. The report, developed at a workshop in Monterey, California, 4-6 December 1992, provides research recommendations for four mobilesource toxic air pollutants specified in the Clean Air Act [formaldehyde, benzene, butadiene, and polycyclic organic matter (POM)], as well as for methanol, an important alternative fuel. HEI planned the workshop in collaboration with representatives of the U.S. EPA, California EPA, California Air Resources Board, and the automotive and petroleum industries. Scientists from academia, industry, and government participated in working groups on specific compounds. Although cancer was the primary health effect for most compounds, there was also much discussion of noncancer endpoints. HEI's report focuses on research needs related to understanding the effects of these agents at concentrations in the ambient air. Section 202(l)(2) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments deals with regulation of mobile-source air toxics. It specifies that within 54 months after the date of the enactment of the amendments of 1990, the EPA