1. LIVING AND DYING IN PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION
Robert F. Phalen, Ph.D. University of California, Irvine Professor: Dept. of Medicine, Faculty: Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine Co-Director: Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory America First Energy Conference | The Heartland Institute Houston Texas, November 9, 2017

2. OUTLINE
What is PM?
The Death of John Doe
PM as an Air Pollutant
Remarks

3. MY BACKGROUND Tulsa – The Former Oil Capital of the World
San Diego State U. of Rochester, Lovelace
U.C. Irvine – The Oil Embargo and ARB
200 + Particle and Gas Toxicology Studies
International Conferences on PM and Human Health
Committees – NRC, NIH, NIOSH, EPA, IRB, etc.

4. WHAT IS PM? NAAQS Criteria Pollutant Particulate Matter (Mass)
Weight Below Either 10 or 2.5 m Diam. Cutoff
Composition Not Considered
Variable in Space, Time, & Composition
Mixed Natural and Anthropogenic Material
25% Deposits in Lung

7. JOHN DOE

8. JOHN DOE’S RISK FACTORS
Age, overweight, older adult
Cardiovascular disease, diabetic
URT infection
Anxiety, unemployed
Poor physical/mental status
Heat wave inversion, no AC

9. THE DAY JOHN DIED
Truck drove by
Dog chased truck
John chased dog uphill
John collapsed and
Died in ER, MI

10. WHAT KILLED JOHN?
PM 2.5
URT infection cigarettes pollen
Obesity, CVD, and exertion
Diabetes
Anxiety, stress
Low socioeconomic status
etc.

11. PREVENTING HIS DEATH?
Tighten air Quality Standards
Re-route traffic
Improve John’s general health
Reduce cost of air conditioning
Improve John’s socioeconomic status
etc.

12. PM AS A METRIC - 1
Not chemically defined
Not stable in time or place
Mixed man-made and natural pollutants
Doses are miniscule

13. PM AS A METRIC - 2
Several no-effect epi studies
Very expensive to meet regulations
Controls have public health tradeoffs
Controls can have unpredictable effects on air chemistry

14. REMARKS
PM is a poor metric
PM 2.5 alone didn’t kill John
Do risk analysis on decisions, not a single pollutant
Consider all consequences of a decision

15. References:
Enstrom, J.E., (2017), Fine Particulate Matter and Total Mortality in Cancer Prevention Study Cohort Reanalysis, Dose-Response, 15(1), DOI: /
Graham, J.D., and Wiener, J.B., editors, (1995), Risk vs Risk: Tradeoffs in Protecting Health and the Environment, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Hiatt, R.A., et. al., Controlled Human Inhalation – Exposure Studies at EPA, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2017.
National Research Council of the National Academies, (2009), Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment, National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Phalen, R.F., (2002), The Particulate Air Pollution Controversy: A Case Study and Lessons Learned, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA.
Phalen, R.F., (2009), Inhalation Studies: Foundations and Techniques, 2nd Edn, Informa, New York, NY.
Phalen, R.F., and Phalen, R.N., (2013), Introduction to Air Pollution Science: A Public Health Perspective, Jones and Bartlett Learning, Burlington, MA.
Phalen, R.F., (2017), Core Ethics for Health Professionals: Principles, Issues, and Compliance, Springer Publishing Company, New York, NY.