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Georgia Tech, Emory Receive EPA Grant for Air Quality Research

Release Date: 02/10/2009
Contact Information: Laura Niles, (404) 562-8353, niles.laura@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – February 10, 2009) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $499,512 to the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University to develop and assess environmental indicators for mobile source impacts on air quality and health in the Atlanta, Ga. area. Prior analyses of air pollutant associations with health outcomes in Atlanta suggest that mobile source emission impacts are of particular interest with regard to cardiovascular disease outcomes, and that a variety of indicators can be used to assess such relationships. Georgia Tech and Emory will construct a variety of indicator sets from existing Atlanta detailed air quality and health outcome data to estimate outcomes from mobile source emissions.

Project objectives involved in this research include developing approaches to identify outcome indicators and apply those approaches to mobile sources in Atlanta for the period 1998-2004 using data and methods of varying detail and complexity; testing a range of indicators for the impact of mobile source emission changes on air quality and health; developing approaches for assessing indicators in terms of their ability to represent a range of outcomes associated with mobile source emissions and policies; and evaluating indicators using an independent data set for 2005-2009, and use the results to assess the approaches developed for identifying, testing, assessing and refining outcome indicators. This research expects to provide indicators that can directly be used to link air quality data with health outcome trends, emission trends, and environmental policy impacts in the southeastern U.S., and will also provide information on uncertainties and the applicability of indicators in other regions.

Funding for the grant award was provided through the EPA National Center for Environmental Research’s Science to Achieve Results or STAR program. The STAR program funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review.

For information about this grant and other grant recipients nationwide, visit https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/448/records_per_page/ALL

Additional information about the Development of Environmental Health Outcome Indicators is available at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2007/2007_star_health_indicators.html