BOARD MEETING DATE: May 7, 2004
AGENDA NO. 4
Execute Contract to Co-Fund Ultrafine Particulate Matter Health Effects Study
SYNOPSIS:
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is funding a major study in Southern California to study the health effects of ultrafine particulate matter in the elderly. This action is to co-fund with CARB an enhancement that improves exposure estimates of the study participants and adds a study on the potential biological mechanism whereby particulate matter produces adverse health effects. Project costs include $3.3 million from NIEHS, $501,814 from AQMD, $175,000 from CARB and in kind contribution of $416,000 from CARB for exposure monitoring.
COMMITTEE:
Mobile Source, April 23, 2004, Recommended for Approval
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Authorize the Chairman to execute an agreement with the California Air Resources Board to co-fund an enhancement to a study at University of California, Irvine with Dr. Ralph Delfino as Principal Investigator on the health effects of particulate matter in an amount not to exceed $501,814 from the Clean Fuels Fund.
Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer
Background
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is funding a major health study at U.C. Irvine on the effects of ultrafine particulate matter on the cardio-respiratory health of elderly people living in Southern California. All of the study subjects will have coronary heart disease, and will be over 65 years of age. This group has been identified in epidemiology studies as vulnerable to adverse health effects of particulate matter. Effects include increases in hospital admissions and mortality related to cardio-respiratory disease. The NIEHS-funded study will investigate the relationship of specific measures of cardio-respiratory health and pollutant levels in this group. NIEHS funding is $3.3 million.
A total of 72 individuals will be studied using repeated five-day periods of study occurring during different times of the year to capture a range of air pollutant levels. The subjects will be followed in small groups at any one time. They will wear monitors to record heart electrical activity and blood pressure, and will record locations and activities in an electronic diary. Blood samples will be taken to measure circulating biomarkers of inflammation and thrombosis. Exposure to pollutants will be estimated using data from routine air monitoring stations, personal and outdoor monitoring, and ultrafine particle counts. The California Air Resources Board has co-funded the study to expand the air quality monitoring resources to better characterize the study subjects’ personal exposure to particulates and gaseous pollutants. This includes monitoring equipment and a mobile monitoring trailer. CARB funding is $175,000, as well as in-kind contribution of equipment and personnel estimated at $416,000.
Proposal
Staff proposes that the AQMD co-fund this study entitled "Determination of Reactive Oxygen Species Activity in PM and Enhanced Exposure Assessment of the NIH, NIEHS study Entitled: Ultrafine Particulate Matter and Cardio-respiratory Health" with CARB. The AQMD funding is to add a component that will collect additional samples of particulate matter for chemical, biological and mechanistic evaluation. This would provide a unique opportunity to determine the characteristics of particulate matter that may produce adverse effects, and will provide additional biochemical mechanistic information to help determine how particulate matter exerts its biological effects.
One of the major hypotheses regarding particulate matter health effects is that adverse effects are mediated by inflammatory responses in tissue as a result of exposure. It is thought that this process is initiated by generation of reactive oxygen species within cells exposed to particulate matter. This supplement to the NIEHS study will assess the activity of particulate matter for producing reactive oxygen species that may be formed via the interaction of particulates with lung cells. This would be the first study to staff’s knowledge that examines the relationship of cardiovascular outcomes related to particulate matter exposure and the production of reactive oxygen species.
In addition to researchers at U.C. Irvine, investigators from UCLA (Dr. John Froines) and USC (Dr. Constantinos Sioutas) will participate in this project under subcontract to U.C. Irvine.
Benefits to AQMD
The proposed project is included in the 2004 update of the Technology Advancement Office Clean Fuels Program Plan under the project "Evaluate Ultrafine Particle Health Effects."
This project will result in important information quantifying the effects of pollutant exposures in a vulnerable population. The study will address questions of which chemical or size fractions of particulate matter are most harmful, and what biological mechanisms underlie harmful effects. The results will provide data to help determine the health benefits to residents of the South Coast Air Basin from reducing emissions of particulates and particulate precursors.
Sole Source Justification
Section VIII.B.2. of the Procurement Policy and Procedure identifies four major provisions under which a sole source award may be justified. This request for four sole source awards is made under provision B.2.d. Other circumstances exist which in the determination of the Executive Officer require such waiver in the best interest of the AQMD. Specifically, clause B.2.d.(1): Projects including cost sharing by multiple sponsors. This project is being developed in partnership with CARB, and is co-funded with CARB and NIEHS.
Resource Impacts
Total cost for this project is $4,392,814. AQMD’s cost will not exceed $501,814. The amounts of co-funding are listed below.
NIEHS
$3,300,000
CARB
$175,000
CARB in kind
$416,000
AQMD
$501,814
Total
$4,392,814
Funds are available from the Clean Fuels Fund (Fund 31), established as a special revenue fund resulting from the state-mandated Clean Fuels Program. The Clean Fuels Program, under Health and Safety Code Sections 40448.5 and 40512 and Vehicle Code Section 9250.11, establishes mechanisms to collect revenues from mobile sources to support projects to increase the utilization of clean fuels, including the development of the necessary advanced enabling technologies. Funds collected from motor vehicles are restricted, by statute, to be used for projects and program activities related to mobile sources that support the objectives of the Clean Fuels Program. This program is related to the Clean Fuels Program because ultra-fine particulates are emitted by fuel combustion and formed in the atmosphere from NOx and SOx emitted from motor vehicles and other sources. This program will help understand the benefits to be derived from switching to alternate technologies, including clean fuel technologies. AQMD is required to consider health effects when determining which clean fuels projects to fund. This study will provide information regarding which fuels are more health-damaging, and that can also be used to determine the health benefits of alternate technologies.
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