Why do we care about air pollution toxicity? Its role in regulatory decisions past and future.#
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The Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has an active research program dedicated to understanding the impacts of air pollution on human health. The agency’s toxicological approaches provide reliable comparisons of the relative toxicity of air pollution sources that in turn guide air quality management and policy strategies designed to mitigate exposure to the most offending sources. Toxicological approaches are also critical for addressing urgent unanticipated issues, such as the health impacts of inhaled World Trade Center dust and emerging concerns, such as wildland fire smoke. This seminar will present an overview of some the US EPA’s seminal particulate matter (PM) toxicology studies as well as recent findings, including the assessment of health effects observed in experimental models that mimic healthy and potentially susceptible populations (children, elderly, and pre-existing disease), and the utility of such data in establishing the scientific basis that informs regulatory actions.