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GRANTS AWARDED FOR PARTICULATE MATTER RESEARCH
Release Date: 02/01/2002
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2002
Research grants totaling more than $3.8 million have been awarded to four universities to study the effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) on human health. The grants have been made through EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, which funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review. The grants have been awarded to the University of California, Emory University, Michigan State University and University of North Carolina. Increases in PM pollution have been linked to increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for heart and lung disease, increased respiratory illness or discomfort, decreased lung function and even premature death. PM is typically generated by any activity involving burning of materials (e.g., fuel combustion, power generation, wood burning) or any dust-generating activities. How or why PM may cause cardiopulmonary health effects is not yet understood, but it is hoped that research from these grants will help address questions related to these effects. University of California at Davis will study mechanisms by which particles and/or ozone exert adverse effects on the cardiopulmonary system of neonatal rats during critical periods of their development. Emory University will investigate the roles of specific air contaminants, and interrelationships among them, in increasing certain cardiac and respiratory conditions. Michigan State University will participate in a team of researchers examining rodents with and without pre-existing asthma to determine whether PM exposure exacerbates the airway injury associated with asthma; whether the magnitude of PM-induced toxicity is dependent on the size of the particles; whether PM that has traveled through the atmosphere is more toxic than locally generated air pollution and whether PM toxicity is most severe during smog conditions. Finally, the University of North Carolina will conduct focused research on the biological mechanism by which zinc, an abundant combustion-derived metal found in airborne PM, contributes to lung inflammation. More information on the STAR program and the grants is available at: www.epa.gov/ncerqa .
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