Grantee Research Project Results

Ambient Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in North Central Texas, 1990-1994: A Time Series Analysis

EPA Grant Number: U914781
Title: Ambient Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in North Central Texas, 1990-1994: A Time Series Analysis
Investigators: Gamble, Janet L.
Institution: The University of Texas at Dallas
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: January 1, 1995 through January 1, 1996
Project Amount: $102,000
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1995) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Air Quality and Air Toxics , Fellowship - Air Pollution

Objective:

The objective of this research project involves a time-series multiple regression analysis of the hypothesized air pollution-mortality relationship for the Dallas area.

Approach:

Several recent time-series studies have reported a significant relationship between low-level air pollution and mortality. Specifically, these studies appear to implicate fine particles, including sulfates, in production of excess mortality. However, tropospheric ozone (O3)—a major constituent of air pollution in urban areas where mass transit is limited and commuters rely on private vehicles—has generally not been thought to produce adverse health affects other than mild reversible respiratory symptoms, most notably in persons engaged in vigorous outdoor activities (Follinsbee, 1992; Lipfert, 1994). Certainly, O3 has not been considered to be a factor in early death. However, a time-series study of air pollution and mortality in the Los Angeles County area conducted by Kinney and Ozkaynak (1991) suggests a significant relationship between atmospheric ozone concentrations and mortality.

These findings are of particular interest in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, because of this region's continued reliance on automotive travel and the ozone exceedance incidents, which have prompted the recent introduction of more stringent automotive emissions standards across the area. Although several urban locations in which air pollution is substantially particulate have been analyzed, and a consistent picture of the relationship between fine particulates and mortality has begun to take shape, an analysis of the Dallas area could yield useful findings with respect to the potential mortality effects of O3 in a region where exceedance incidents are relatively infrequent.

Supplemental Keywords:

fellowship, ozone, ambient air, ambient air pollution, Dallas, Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, Texas, TX, air pollution, mortality, urban, fine particulates, particulate matter, PM, emissions, time-series studies, multiple regression analysis, pollution-mortality relationship., RFA, Health, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Air, Geographic Area, Air Quality, air toxics, State, Air Pollution Effects, Risk Assessments, mobile sources, Physical Processes, tropospheric ozone, engine exhaust, lung injury, health effects, sulfates, motor vehicle emissions, vehicle emissions, air pollutants, ambient ozone data, automotive emissions, ozone, urban ambient particles, motor vehicle exhaust, exposure, automotive exhaust, emissions, air pollution, ambient particle pollution, Texas (TX), ambient particle health effects, human exposure, mortality studies, mortality, airborne urban contaminants, human health risk

Progress and Final Reports:

Final