Particulate Matter Research Program


Multi-year Plan


2003


March 2003 Update 

Not Yet Externally Peer Reviewed 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Office of Research and Development 

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 
The Office of Research and Development’s (ORD) multi-year plans (MYPs) present ORD’s 

proposed research (assuming constant funding) in a variety of areas over the next 5-8 years. The 

MYPs serve three principal purposes: to describe where our research programs are going, to 

present the significant outputs of the research, and to communicate our research plans within 

ORD and with others. Multi-year planning permits ORD to consider the strategic directions of 

the Agency and how research can evolve to best contribute to the Agency’s mission of protecting 

human health and the environment. 

MYPs are considered to be “living documents.” ORD intends to update the MYPs on a regular 

basis to reflect the current state of the science, resource availability, and Agency priorities. ORD 

will update or modify future performance information contained within this planning document 

as needed. These documents will also be submitted for external peer review. 
Lead Author: 

Andy Miller, NRMRL 

Contributing Authors: 

Dan Costa, NHEERL


Robert Devlin, NHEERL


Les Grant, NCEA


Stacey Katz, NCER


Doug McKinney, NRMRL


Lucas Neas, NHEERL


Gail Robarge, NCER


Mary Ross, OAQPS


Gail Robarge, NCER


Bill Russo, NHEERL


Linda Sheldon, NERL


Laurel Schultz, OSP


Chon Shoaf, NCEA


Paul Solomon, NERL


Jim Vickery, NERL


Tim Watkins, NERL


William Wilson, NCEA


Roy Zweidinger, NERL

Introduction 

Air pollution from anthropogenic activities continues to adversely impact human and ecological 

health in the United States, as repeatedly demonstrated in scientific studies. These impacts are 

substantial, as indicated by an estimate that current air pollution regulations may result in annual 

reductions of tens of thousands of premature deaths and prevention of hundreds of thousands of 

hospitalizations, representing monetary benefits of possibly hundreds of billions of dollars each 

year. The goal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) air quality program, to 

“protect and improve the air so it is healthy to breathe and free of levels of pollutants that harm 

human health or the environment,” thus represents a target for achieving major benefits on 

personal, national, and economic scales. In order to move the nation closer to achieving this 

goal, EPA concluded in 1997 that ambient levels of particulate matter (PM) presented significant 

risks to public health, based upon an extensive review of the scientific literature. The Agency 

therefore established revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10; in 

addition, new NAAQS were established for PM2.5. At the time the new and revised PM NAAQS 

were established in 1997, President Clinton stated "The EPA, in partnership with other Federal 

agencies, will develop a greatly expanded coordinated interagency PM research program. The 

program will contribute to expanding the science associated with particulate matter health 

effects, as well as developing improved monitoring methods and cost effective mitigation 

strategies." 

To effectively implement this and other research programs, EPA’s Office of Research and 

Development (ORD) is relying on multiyear plans (MYPs) as one of the tools applied to identify 

research directions, opportunities for collaboration and integration across the different parts of 

the organization and different areas of research, and to communicate ORD’s research programs 

within and outside the Agency. The PM MYP serves to link the broader EPA and ORD Strategic 

Plans with the more focused PM Research Strategy and research plans specific to ORD’s three 

Laboratories and two Centers, as well as to other ORD research programs. A clear MYP will 

also provide the foundation for ORD and EPA to maintain their leadership positions in air quality 

research and management. A well defined research “road map” is necessary to ensuring that 

ORD’s PM Research Program is able to build upon the progress that ORD has made over the 

past five years of the Program, and to effectively adjust to unforeseen changes in the complex 

scientific landscape ahead. 

Developing this roadmap requires identifying a logical progression of scientific research. This 

progression is defined using the logic diagram shown in Figure 1. Each of the projects conducted 

in ORD’s PM Research Program is designed to improve the Agency’s ability to achieve its 

desired long-term outcome of improved human and ecosystem health. By following the logic 

diagram from right to left, one can begin to see how each research project contributes to the 

achievement of the long-term outcome. In a broad sense, the model in Figure 1 illustrates how 

the Program is guided by the need to provide the scientific foundation to enable the end users of 

our research (i.e., our customers) to set and attain air quality standards for PM that will protect 

human and ecosystem health. 

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In addition to guiding the PM Research Program, the MYP also identifies links to other ORD 

research programs. Research being conducted under the PM Research Program will also be 

applied to ORD’s research efforts in ozone, air toxics, and climate change. Data for emission 

inventory improvement, better understanding of atmospheric processes, development of air 

quality models, characterizing actual human exposures and the factors which influence these 

exposures, effects of PM components on the rate of climate change, health effects caused by 

exposure to multiple pollutants, and evaluations of changes in control technology performance as 

different systems are installed are key areas where ORD PM research crosses programmatic 

definitions (more detail on these cross-program impacts is provided in Appendix A). 

The ORD PM Research Program is fundamentally problem driven: “How can we reduce health 

risks associated with exposure to ambient PM?”, derived from the Agency’s desired long-term 

outcome to improve human and ecosystem health. The program’s long term goals (LTGs) reflect 

the problem-driven nature of the program by defining research results that are needed to answer 

this key question and the more detailed scientific questions that logically flow from it. However, 

the ability to adequately answer this question requires that ORD rely upon and further develop its 

core research capabilities. The research conducted in a diverse range of topics such as cellular 

toxicology, atmospheric chemistry, human exposure, and combustion technology will not only 

address research questions of immediate interest to reducing PM-associated health risks, but will 

also provide a solid foundation for addressing the scientific questions that must be addressed to 

solve future environmental problems. As is true for any leading scientific research organization, 

it is a fundamental requirement that ORD scientists continue their contributions to advances in 

the state of the science. For ORD, the difference is that these advances are in directions designed 

to further the Agency’s mission, and the MYP is a key tool for identifying those directions. 

The scope of this MYP is the research conducted at and funded through ORD’s three 

Laboratories (the National Exposure Research Laboratory [NERL], the National Health and 

Environmental Effects Research Laboratory [NHEERL], and the National Risk Management 

Research Laboratory [NRMRL]) and two of its Centers (the National Center for Environmental 

Assessment [NCEA] and the National Center for Environmental Research [NCER]). These 

organizations are working together under a matrix-type management structure specific to PM to 

develop their individual PM research programs to address the needs of ORD’s customers. 

The primary customer for the work described in this MYP is the Office of Air and Radiation 

(OAR). In addition to OAR, ORD’s research is also designed to address the needs of the 

Regions, states, tribes, and Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs) in their activities to reduce 

ambient concentrations of PM, PM exposures, and, ultimately, PM-related effects. ORD itself 

can also be considered a key client of the PM research program, since many of the program’s 

outputs are used by others within ORD to achieve ORD’s broader goals. In addition to 

supporting these customers, ORD’s PM research also supports environmental protection efforts 

beyond the borders of the U.S. International organizations such as the World Health 

Organization rely upon ORD outputs and expertise to inform their activities and conclusions, and 

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ORD works with scientists and policy makers from numerous countries to promote the exchange 

of the latest scientific knowledge in support of policy development. 

While OAR is the primary customer for the research described in this MYP, ORD must also be 

responsive to other groups. In particular, the National Research Council’s Committee on 

Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter, resulting from a Congressional directive, has 

identified priority research areas and provided ongoing guidance that together have strongly 

influenced the design of ORD’s PM Research Program. The official role and the scientific 

expertise of the NRC Committee make it imperative for ORD to place strong emphasis on the 

Committee’s recommendations in its program design. The recommendations from and 

interactions with the NRC and other external groups will be discussed in more detail below. 

The research described in this MYP is based on an assumption that the total available resources 

will remain level. In Fiscal Year 2002 (FY02), a total of nearly $68 million dollars and 177 fulltime equivalent personnel were allocated to the PM Research Program. Of the total dollar 

amount, $34 million was available to fund research and development activities other than 

personnel costs. Of this amount, just under $17 million was available for funding the intramural 

research programs, with the remaining funds available for extramural grants and centers. The 

proposed FY03 budget is similarly structured. 

Background 

The logic of the PM Research Program’s design, illustrated in Figure 1, begins with the Agency’s 

desired long-term outcome of improving human and ecosystem health through achievement of 

EPA’s Goal 1 - Clean Air: Protect and improve the air so it is healthy to breathe and free of 

levels of pollutants that harm human health or the environment. Achieving this outcome 

will benefit tens of thousands of people across the U.S., by reducing the frequence and severity of 

respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms and hospitalizations, preventing premature deaths, and 

possibly reducing the number of cases of lung cancer. Reducing concentrations of PM in the 

ambient air may also reduce cases and severity of asthma. In addition to these benefits to human 

health, reduction of ambient PM concentrations will improve visibility in both rural and urban 

areas, providing additional benefits to quality of life. On a dollar basis, these reductions in 

ambient PM have been estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars each year. To achieve 

this outcome and its associated benefits, the Agency’s near-term desired outcome is to develop 

and implement air quality standards that are protective of health and welfare as set forth in the 

Clean Air Act. These standards are set based on a comprehensive scientific understanding of the 

exposures to, and adverse health and environmental effects associated with (in this case), 

elevated levels of ambient PM concentrations, and are implemented by the states and tribes using 

tools and data provided in large part by EPA. As seen in Figure 1, setting and implementing PM 

standards represents the Agency’s desired short-term outcome, which is designed to lead to the 

intermediate outcome of attaining those standards across the country as a means of ensuring 

individuals are able to breathe clean, healthy air. The efforts to develop, set, and implement 

these standards are made by organizations other than ORD, primarily the states, tribes, and OAR. 

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Because of the time required to set and implement national standards, significant time may elapse 

between the time ORD transfers knowledge to our customers and the time that knowledge is 

applied. 

The objective of ORD’s PM research program is then to transfer the scientific understanding, 

technical tools, and associated data to OAR, the states, tribes, and other clients to improve their 

ability to achieve first the short-term outcome of setting and implementing standards, and 

ultimately the intermediate- and long-term outcomes of ensuring safe and healthy air and 

improved human and ecosystem health. To meet this objective, ORD must go beyond a mere 

transmittal of data. An effective transfer of tools or knowledge requires substantial efforts to 

ensure that those receiving the information do in fact understand, for instance, the implications of 

using data in a context different from that in which they were collected or how supplied tools 

work and can be applied and modified. Areas where the effectiveness of transfer can be 

improved will be discussed in more detail below. 

The key question stated earlier, “How can we reduce health risks associated with exposure to 

ambient PM?,” incorporates the Agency’s desired long-term outcome (improved health) and its 

short-term outcome (develop and implement standards). Answering this question implies a welldeveloped understanding of how health risks are related to ambient PM levels, and more 

explicitly indicates that the Agency’s goal is to reduce the causes of the problem through its 

statutory authority. This question provides the starting point for developing the ORD research 

program, and from it flow the more detailed questions that can be answered through ORD and 

other research efforts. 

Given unlimited resources, every aspect of the issue could be addressed. However, ORD (like 

any other organization) has neither unlimited time, funding, nor people at its disposal. Thus, 

ORD must focus on the critical research questions that will provide EPA with the scientific 

information and tools needed to achieve its desired outcomes, on a schedule that meets the needs 

of OAR’s legally mandated timeline (see Figure 2). Narrowing the range of research topics to 

those questions of greatest importance has been accomplished through several means. Guidance 

from outside organizations to provide a scientific consensus on the key science questions, input 

from ORD’s clients concerning needs to achieve desired regulatory outcomes, awareness of 

research efforts outside the Agency, and understanding the unique role and capabilities of ORD 

provided the means to narrow the research to that which is most critical to achieving the desired 

ORD and Agency outcomes. 

Identifying Key Science Questions 

In 1997, Congress requested that the NRC review the ORD PM research program. The NRC’s 

Committee on Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter undertook this effort with the 

objective of reducing “uncertainties in the scientific evidence used to guide regulation of airborne 

particulate matter in the United States.” In their first report in 1998, the Committee 

recommended to the Agency a comprehensive research portfolio designed to identify the 

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biologically active constituents of PM that caused the associations between elevated levels of 

ambient fine PM and measures of adverse health effects, including premature mortality. Their 

first report identified ten key research priorities, chosen based on their scientific value, their 

decision-making value, and their feasibility and timing. The Committee has since published two 

additional reports on their findings, and have adjusted the ten priority research areas to reflect 

scientific progress and a more complete understanding of ORD’s role in supporting the setting of 

PM NAAQS and the implementation of those standards. 

The priority research areas identified by the NRC Committee focused on understanding: 

1) how people were exposed to ambient PM mass and how these exposures related to 

concentrations measured at central monitors; 

2) how people were exposed to toxic PM constituents and how those exposures related to 

constituent concentrations at central monitors; 

3) what sources were emitting PM most strongly associated with the adverse health effects; 

4) how PM emissions were related to ambient concentrations; 

5) what characteristics of PM were causing the adverse health effects indicated in 

epidemiological studies; 

6) how exposure to ambient PM is related to actual dose and how particles deposit in the body; 

7) how PM interacted with other pollutants to cause adverse effects; 

8) what groups in the total population were most susceptible to these effects; 

9) how the effects occurred in the body; and 

10) how measurement uncertainties can impact the epidemiological studies upon which the 

NAAQS are largely based. 

More recently, the draft NARSTO1

 Fine Particle Assessment has listed eight policy questions and 

associated science questions focusing more closely on implementation-related issues. These 

questions were developed following extensive discussions with leaders in industrial, 

governmental, and academic institutions in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and further provide 

guidance to ORD concerning priorities for PM research. Additional guidance has also come out 

of ORD’s leadership role in the Council on the Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) 

Subcommittee on PM Research. This group coordinates the PM research activities across 19 

Federal agencies to ensure that priority needs are being met without duplicating efforts, and 

collaborative research opportunities are identified and taken. 

The NARSTO Assessment provided more detailed questions related to implementing the 

NAAQS, emphasizing the need to reduce uncertainties in the relationships between source 

1

Formerly an acronym for the North American Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone, the term 

NARSTO has become simply a wordmark signifying this tri-national, public-private partnership 

for dealing with multiple features of tropospheric pollution, including ozone and suspended 

particulate matter. 

8 
emissions and ambient PM concentrations and approaches to reduce them. The Assessment also 

poses a critical question not explicitly addressed by the NRC: “How can we measure our 

progress?” The basic idea behind this question is also raised by the CENR’s PM Subcommittee. 

In both cases, the key idea is to ensure that we are able to measure our progress toward meeting 

the broader Agency goals of safe and healthy air and improved human and ecosystem health. 

Guidance from Primary Clients 

In addition to the scientific guidance provided by these three groups, ORD’s PM research 

program is also guided by the scientific needs of OAR, the Regions, the states, tribes, and the 

Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs) in their efforts to develop effective regulatory 

programs. The NAAQS timeline, including the development of the PM AQCD, is the primary 

driver of the research program’s schedule. Other OAR regulatory activities supported by the 

ORD PM research program include the recent PM transport rule, the regional haze regulations, 

and mobile source emission standards. These programs rely on the ORD PM research program 

to provide data from health, exposure, atmospheric, and engineering sciences to ensure that 

regulatory programs are based on strong scientific evidence and analyses and have the greatest 

potential to achieving the Agency’s desired outcomes. Not only are these data used by OAR, but 

also by the states and tribes, who have the primary role in implementing the NAAQS, and the 

Regions and RPOs in their roles as coordinating efforts across states to develop effective 

regulatory programs. 

Research Outside the Agency 

There is considerable PM-related research being conducted outside the Agency. Health research, 

including epidemiological, toxicological, and clinical studies, is being conducted in Europe by 

several organizations. In the U.S., epidemiological studies are being supported by industrial 

organizations including the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the Coordinating 

Research Council (CRC) through their support (co-funded by EPA) of the Health Effects 

Institute. Recently, ORD, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the 

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute co-sponsored a workshop on the cardiovascular effects 

of environmental pollutants. Planning is underway to develop joint RFAs in the area of 

cardiovascular effects of PM exposure. 

Several groups are also conducting air quality studies, including ambient PM measurements by 

the Department of Energy (DOE) in the upper Ohio River Valley and multi-agency state efforts 

in California and Texas. Multi-state organizations such as Northeast States Coordinated Air Use 

Management (NESCAUM) and Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs) in the Midwest are 

also sponsoring studies of ambient air quality. In conjunction with its epidemiological studies, 

EPRI is conducting air quality studies in the Southeast under its Southeast Aerosol Research and 

Characterization (SEARCH) study. 

In emission characterization and inventory development, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

is providing support for research to improve emission inventories for ammonia from agricultural 

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operations. There are also several projects related to emission inventory improvement and air 

quality model application being conducted by states and the RPOs. Further emission inventory 

and characterization work is being conducted or supported by EPRI, the American Petroleum 

Institute and Gas Technology Institute, and the CRC. 

As noted earlier, EPA stays abreast of this work (both health and implementation research) via its 

formal participation in the CENR and NARSTO, as well as through scientific and technical 

conferences and organizations. Information on these complementary research activities is taken 

into account by both Principal Investigators and ORD scientific and technical management when 

research needs are developed to meet the goals of the MYP. Whenever possible, EPA and ORD 

work together with other organizations at the Federal, state, tribal, and local levels to leverage 

resources and enhance our abilities to achieve EPA’s desired long-term outcomes. 

ORD’s Unique Role and Capabilities 

ORD has a unique position in the research community. Not only do outside researchers look to 

ORD, as a part of EPA, for guidance concerning the relative importance of topics, but ORD must 

also be able to judge the quality of research results produced by others and provide expert 

guidance on this research to EPA’s regulatory programs. Therefore, ORD must conduct work 

that goes beyond merely filling in the gaps and addressing deficiencies in the science. By 

conducting a part of its research on topics that are also being evaluated elsewhere, ORD 

scientists play their part in the scientific community to independently verify others’ research, and 

to provide a source of expertise within the Agency that would not be available without first hand 

experience. 

This unique position of ORD within the broader research community also means that in many 

cases ORD has the role of scientific leadership on topics associated with PM. Certainly it is not 

expected that the leading researchers in every topic are ORD staff members. But as an 

organization, ORD is looked to by nearly every group as having the responsibility for generating, 

synthesizing, and reporting to EPA’s regulatory programs the information and knowledge 

required to develop and implement air quality standards that are effective, in terms of their ability 

to reduce exposure, improve health, and minimize the cost of implementation. This is true not 

just in the U.S. but globally, as demonstrated by the requested participation of ORD scientists in 

international panels on the range of science associated with PM. Beyond this synthesis, ORD 

provides the Agency with the scientific link to translate the fundamental research conducted 

largely at the nation’s academic institutions into the applied science needed to develop the 

regulatory approaches and achieve the Agency’s desired outcomes. 

The extramural programs developed by NCER provide the capacity to bring additional expertise 

to bear upon the range of issues associated with PM. Working jointly with the ORD laboratories 

and OAR, NCER develops requests for assistance (RFAs) to address specific research priorities 

that target key research gaps and deficiencies and create an mix of internal and external efforts 

that are at least complementary and optimally synergistic. A prime example of this are the five 

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competitively-selected PM Centers that are conducting health effects, exposure and epidemiology 

research, each aimed at a specific health hypothesis. In addition, the 50 individual grants 

provided through NCER also provide a means to support studies of new ideas and more focused 

investigations of topics important to gaining a better understanding of PM and its effects. 

Internally, ORD is conducting leading-edge research that is advancing the state of the science in 

several areas. These areas include integrated epidemiological, clinical and toxicological 

investigations of the effects of PM exposure, development of ambient PM monitoring methods 

and air quality models used for compliance purposes, identifying the sources and factors 

influencing actual human exposures, and measuring particle size distribution and size-segregated 

composition of difficult-to-measure sources such as open burning. One of ORD’s most 

significant advantages, however, lies in the close proximity of its exposure, health, atmospheric 

science, and engineering researchers. ORD’s abilities to operate full- and pilot-scale combustion 

systems to generate particles in real time for inhalation toxicology studies and its capabilities in 

human clinical studies and developing and investigating animal models of susceptibility, for 

instance, provide EPA with the capacity to conduct top rank science in support of its regulatory 

programs. In each of these areas, ORD’s research is seen as leading edge, and researchers 

throughout the world express interest in the results and directions of this work, and call upon 

ORD researchers to provide guidance to their programs. 

Focusing ORD’s Research 

Based on the guidance provided by an understanding of the key science questions, regulatory 

program needs, efforts being made by others, and the unique capabilities and role of ORD, the 

PM research program can be narrowed from the broad key question above (How can we reduce 

health risks associated with exposure to ambient PM?) to a series of broad long term goals 

(LTGs) and more detailed annual performance goals (APGs) that are designed to increase our 

understanding of how human activities that emit PM and PM precursors are linked to adverse 

health effects, through the complex chain of emission, formation, transport, exposure, dose, and 

effect. The highest value research is that which addresses gaps and deficiencies in this chain. 

Constant review of these gaps through continuing interaction with the external research groups 

noted above will ensure that ORD’s research maintains its high value. Continuing review of the 

research program to address the needs of the regulatory community will ensure that the ORD PM 

research program remains relevant. 

ORD’s scientific expertise, developed over years of studying the sources, behavior, and effects of 

pollutants in the atmosphere, and its understanding of the Agency’s regulatory needs have 

enabled the NRC’s priorities and other needs identified by OAR (and through OAR, the states 

and tribes) and NARSTO to be translated into the detailed project-level activities needed to 

answer the key question posed above. The PM Research Program was therefore developed from 

the scientific community’s understanding of the gaps and deficiencies in scientific knowledge 

regarding PM source, atmospheric behavior and fate, human exposure, and ultimate health 

effects, within the framework of the Agency’s regulatory mission. Close interactions with 

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OAR’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) and Office of Transportation Air 

Quality (OTAQ), ensure that the information generated by ORD addresses the needs of these 

Offices as they develop, implement, and enforce the rules, regulations, and standards designed to 

achieve the Agency’s strategic goal of clear, safe, and healthy air in every American community. 

Progress to Date/Changes from Previous Version 

Progress to Date 

The program has steadily progressed toward meeting its goals since the previous revision of the 

MYP. The most visible product generated by the program has been the most recent revision and 

review of the PM AQCD. Due to an unprecedented volume of new research, as well as a 

recently-discovered issue regarding statistical models used in some epidemiology studies, 

completion of the AQCD has been delayed beyond the original target date. However, ORD has 

worked closely with the scientific community and OAR to set a revised schedule for completing 

the final draft, review, and publication of the AQCD. 

ORD has made substantial progress in addressing the research priorities established by the NRC 

in response to 1997 revision of the PM NAAQS. The new standards were developed largely on 

the basis of epidemiological studies that found consistent associations between ambient PM 

concentrations and various adverse health effects. However, these studies raised two important 

questions: whether PM at ambient levels could actually cause these health outcomes, and 

whether ambient monitors could be used to adequately represent personal exposure to PM mass. 

Research conducted and supported by ORD has since developed a body of evidence 

demonstrating that the adverse health effects statistically associated with exposure to ambient 

PM are biologically plausible. That is, studies of controlled exposure to measured concentrations 

of particles from different sources and with different attributes can cause measurable changes in 

biological response, consistent with the health measures used in the epidemiological studies. 

This research has also demonstrated that for fine PM mass, differences between ambient 

measurements and exposure should not change the predicted health outcomes, although the 

difference may underestimate the strength of the impact. Although significant questions remain 

regarding how and what PM components and factors of susceptibility result in PM health effects, 

these achievements provide strong verification of the fundamental epidemiological evidence 

which was the basis for the 1997 revision of the PM NAAQS. 

The initial ORD grants supporting the PM Health Centers are coming to a close in 2005, with 

this support having already resulted in numerous publications describing the effects associated 

with exposure to particles with different characteristics and from different sources, thereby 

expanding our understanding of which particle components or characteristics may be causing 

adverse health effects. The Supersites monitoring network is completing or is near completion of 

the data collection portion of the studies, and the data are being made available to the scientific 

community for analyses. The PM Exposure Panel Studies have been completed, with much of 

the data analyzed, and the Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation (SHEDS) model 

was applied to better understand exposure to fine particles. An updated version of the 

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Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) dispersion model was released for public use to 

analyze the impacts of potential implementation strategies by the states, tribes, and RPOs. 

The work that has been conducted to date and the progress that has resulted from that research 

have not only provided significant guidance to our customers concerning sources, transport, 

transformation, deposition, exposure, and effects of PM, PM precursors, and PM components, 

this research has also positioned ORD scientists and the external scientists supported by ORD in 

a position to make further significant advances in the state of the science in the coming years. As 

with any scientific endeavor, considerable time and effort was expended during the initial period 

of research to develop methods, set up facilities, and generally learn the intricacies of the 

different fields of investigation. We have now gotten the ball rolling and are beginning to see the 

first fruits of our efforts. The future should provide increasingly more answers as the research 

progresses. 

Changes in MYP Direction 

Scientific progress over the past several years has led to several changes in the program’s 

direction. The incremental nature of research means that these changes will in most cases appear 

at first glance to be minor adjustments in the descriptions of ORD’s PM research. However, 

these seemingly minor adjustments can over a long term represent significant changes in 

scientific direction. 

The most important of these changes over the past five years has been in the effort to determine 

the PM characteristic(s) responsible for causing the adverse health effects associated with 

exposure to ambient PM. In the NRC’s first report on PM research priorities, emphasis was 

placed on research to identify “the most biologically important physical and chemical 

characteristics and constituents of particulate matter that produce adverse health effects.” The 

NRC’s original ten research priorities were designed to identify the specific constituents or 

characteristics causing the adverse health effects (the “silver bullets”), the biological mechanisms 

of damage, who and what make certain subpopulations susceptible, and how people are exposed 

to these harmful particles. The goal behind the determination of which particle attributes are 

most toxic was to identify and ultimately reduce emissions from the sources of those biologically 

important particles. 

While the need to understand the roles of physical and chemical characteristics and constituents 

remains a key to more fully understanding PM-associated health effects, these efforts are now 

being integrated to better understand the impacts of particles from specific sources. The subtle 

extension of emphasis from characteristics and constituents to sources reflects the growing 

consensus that the search for the “silver bullets” is likely to be a long-term continuing effort. 

Linking specific sources through ambient concentrations and human exposures to health effects 

is likely to provide data that can be applied to regulatory policy more quickly, and can help 

support identification of biologically important characteristics and constituents as well. Sourceexposure-effects approaches take into account the complex nature of ambient PM, which is 

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mixed internally and externally to form particles with an enormous range of possible 

characteristics and constituents that would individually take a correspondingly enormous amount 

of time and effort to identify and evaluate. 

NHEERL is conducting a number of studies designed to better understand the effects associated 

with particles from specific sources, using concentrated ambient particles (CAPs) or particles 

generated by pilot- and full-scale combustion equipment, including diesel engines. These 

particles are collected and then used in animal and human in vitro, in vivo, and clinical exposure 

studies to measure the biological responses following exposure. NCER is also funding work to 

improve understanding of the link between sources and effects, including support of an 

epidemiological study associated with EPRI’s Aerosol Research Inhalation Epidemiology Study 

(ARIES) in Atlanta. Internally, NERL scientists are developing data and models to characterize 

and predict exposures to PM from different sources relative to that measured at ambient sites. 

As increasing amounts of data on the speciation of ambient PM are generated by recently 

expanded monitoring networks, ORD will have greater opportunities to conduct source-related 

epidemiological studies. These studies will broaden and build upon the current toxicology-based 

research efforts to generate the most useful information possible on the impacts to human health 

of particles from specific source types. Even with the increasing emphasis on source-based 

effects, studies of specific PM components and characteristics must remain a key part of a robust 

health effects research program. These studies work in concert with source-based investigations 

to guide scientific progress toward understanding what factors influence personal exposure to 

PM, why that exposure to particles is harmful, what specific particles are harmful, and where 

these harmful particles originate, so that we can most effectively target for reduction those 

emissions, exposures, and, ultimately, effects. 

A second instance in which research findings have resulted in changes in research program 

direction is in the area of emission characterization. Improvements to air quality models have 

significantly reduced the differences between predicted and measured ambient PM 

concentrations in validation runs using historical data. As these differences are reduced, errors in 

model inputs (such as emission inventories) have a greater impact on the modeled results than in 

previous versions of the models. Inverse modeling techniques suggested that a significant 

portion of the difference in modeled vs. measured particulate nitrate concentrations was due to 

overestimates of ammonia emission rates. In response, increased efforts to quantify ammonia 

emission rates and to understand the role of ammonia deposition between point of emission and 

the well-mixed atmosphere are being made to address this issue. 

The most significant programmatic change that has impacted the MYP is a shift of resources 

from health and exposure research to implementation research. This shift has occurred in both 

the extramural and intramural portions of the program. The reason for this shift was to address 

the immediate need to provide improve data and tools to implement the current fine particle 

NAAQS. This work will focus on near-term priority OAR needs. The initial research 

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conducted under this shift will be further development of the CMAQ model and improvements to 

ammonia inventories, followed by more rapid development of source signatures receptor models, 

source apportionment results, and atmospheric chemistry modules. This shift, in combination 

with general budget reductions, will result in the elimination of in-house chronic epidemiological 

studies and animal studies of long-term health effects of PM exposure. Support for chronic 

epidemiological work will continue through NCER grants, which may also provide an 

opportunity to support extramural animal studies of chronic effects. Delayed work includes 

evaluation of the health effects of specific PM components in new animal models of 

susceptibility, and studies of PM exposure. The changes to the intramural chronic effects 

research does not impact the program’s strategic directions or its abilities to achieve its long term 

goals. It is anticipated that resources will shift back toward health and exposure work as the 

regulatory cycle moves closer toward the next review of the NAAQS in 2009-10. 

The most visible change from the previous version of the MYP is the change in LTGs. The 

LTGs have been recast to reflect a more outcome-oriented description of the program rather than 

a more detailed description of the program activities and outputs. The previous LTG dedicated 

to susceptibility has been absorbed into the LTGs for health effects caused by long- and shortterm PM exposures, and an LTG has been added that encompasses the synthesis, integration, and 

assessment activities associated with developing the PM AQCD and PM Research Needs 

documents. 

Overview of the Long Term Goals 

The PM Long Term Goals have changed substantially from the previous version of the PM MYP. 

These changes were made to better communicate the key desired outcomes of the research 

program and to provide the foundation for future planning toward meeting the broader Agency 

strategic goals. However, these changes do not reflect a substantial change in the direction of the 

program itself. The LTGs are designed to identify the outcomes needed to meet the Agency’s 

goal to improve public health through reduced personal exposure resulting from improvements in 

ambient air quality, and reflect the program’s two basic tasks: to support the Agency in setting 

PM NAAQS that are protective of public health, and to provide the data and tools needed by the 

Agency and states and tribes to attain the PM NAAQS. Figure 3 illustrates how the LTGs relate 

to each other and to the regulatory programs in the overall strategy to achieve EPA’s desired 

long-term outcomes. The LTGs provide the framework around which the program is designed, 

with more detailed and measurable outcomes being defined by the Annual Performance Goals 

(APGs). The PM LTGs are: 

1. Implementation of the Fine Particle NAAQS: By 2006, develop and transfer new data 

and tools needed by OAR and the states and tribes to predict, measure, and reduce ambient 

PM and PM emissions to attain the existing PM NAAQS. 

2. Effects of Short-Term Exposures to PM: By 2009, develop and transfer to ORD and 

OAR new exposure, epidemiological, toxicological, and clinical data for improved 

15

assessments of health risks associated with short-term exposure to PM in the general and 

select susceptible populations. 

3. Air Quality Criteria Document: By 2010, integrate and assess new findings in 

atmospheric, exposure, biological, and environmental sciences and regularly communicate 

the state of science to OAR to improve environmental decision-making for the PM NAAQS. 

4. Implementation to Address Residual Non-Attainment: By 2012, develop and transfer 

improved data and tools needed by OAR and the states and tribes to attain the PM 

NAAQS, especially in areas that remain in nonattainment after initial control strategies are 

implemented, and by ORD and other scientists to refine the environmental factors related 

to health risks associated with PM exposure. 

5. Effects of Long-Term Exposure to PM: By 2014, develop and transfer to ORD and OAR 

new exposure, epidemiological, toxicological, and clinical data for improved assessments of 

health risks associated with short- and long-term exposure to PM, especially in susceptible 

populations. 

In general, the timeline for the NAAQS is to identify and quantify the health and environmental 

problem, set the Standard, identify areas that have not attained the NAAQS, and require the 

development of State Implementation Plans (SIPs). In short, the regulatory flow is healthexposure/standard-setting/ implementation, and the LTGs have been developed to support this 

flow. This is illustrated in Figure 3. The components of the NAAQS review, setting, and 

implementation are not shown in a linear manner because in practice, these efforts must be 

carried out in parallel in many cases. This is due to the time required to conduct the research and 

to the fact that this process is cyclical, with the review and revision (if needed) occurring every 5 

years as mandated in the Clean Air Act. 

Following the process sequentially (denoted by the bold arrows in Figure 3), improved 

understanding of exposure and effects (covered in the 2009 and 2014 LTGs) allows ORD to 

develop more accurate risk assessments, which in turn allows OAR to develop more effective air 

quality standards. Better modeling and measurement tools and more accurate inventory data 

(developed under the 2006 and 2012 LTGs) provide the basis for more effective implementation 

of the standards by OAR, the states, tribes, and other governmental organizations, and the 

regulated community. Effective implementation of protective standards results in reduced 

exposure to PM and to ultimately improved human and ecosystem health. 

The arrows between each box in Figure 3 represent information and/or technology transfer. For 

the above process to flow smoothly, ORD must not only conduct the correct science, but must 

also make sure that our key customers understand our results and the implications of those 

results. We must also ensure that the different parts of ORD understand the implications of 

research conducted by others, both internal and external to ORD. 

16

The 2006 LTG is focused on research needed to improve implementation of the existing PM 

NAAQS. By achieving this goal, ORD will provide OAR, the states and tribes, and the regulated 

community with tools and data to develop more effective implementation plans and control 

strategies. More accurate air quality models and source apportionment methods, data on ambient 

measurements and methods, emission rates and characteristics, and control technology 

performance and costs will allow OAR and the states and tribes to develop and implement 

the current PM NAAQS more effectively. That is, they will have a clearer understanding of 

what sources are contributing to ambient concentrations, how control strategies will reduce 

emissions and ambient PM levels, and how much those strategies are likely to cost. These 

improved data will help OAR and the states and tribes to achieve the greatest improvement in air 

quality at the least cost, progressing toward the ultimate goal of improved human and ecosystem 

health. 

The 2009 LTG covers research to expand our understanding of exposure to and health effects 

caused by PM in support of the next NAAQS review in 2010. The 2009 LTG focuses on 

exposure and health effects associated with short-term exposure to ambient PM. This work is 

designed to increase our understanding of what types of particles are most toxic, how people are 

exposed to these particles, who is susceptible, and how these particles cause the adverse health 

responses. Achievement of this goal will result in more detailed information on what attributes 

of particles are considered to be most responsible for the adverse health effects associated with 

PM exposure in the epidemiological studies, and who is most likely to be affected. This 

information, in turn, will enable the development of a risk assessment that includes stronger 

information on the links between particle sources and effects, which in turn will provide the 

foundation for determining whether the PM NAAQS needs to be revised, and if so, in what 

respects. 

The 2010 LTG reflects the efforts to collect and integrate the appropriate information on 

ambient PM concentrations, exposures, and effects, and report that information to the public and 

to the Administrator so that a determination can be made concerning whether the NAAQS is 

adequately protective. In contrast to the 2009 LTG, which focuses on the development of 

exposure and effects data, this LTG is focused on the collection, integration, and reporting of 

those results and the results reported by others. In short, the information collected, summarized, 

and reported under this LTG will give the regulatory decision makers more complete 

information upon which to base their decisions concerning whether public health is being 

adequately protected by the existing NAAQS, or if revisions to the standard are warranted by 

the data, how the form or level of the standard should change. 

The 2012 LTG focuses again on implementation-related activities, reflecting the cyclical nature 

of the NAAQS process. In this case, however, the focus of the research is designed to address 

residual nonattainment areas that are expected to remain after the implementation of regulatory 

measures to reduce ambient sulfate and nitrate concentrations. Under the 2012 LTG, work will 

focus on attainment of existing PM mass standards, identifying sources of the ambient 

17

carbonaceous particles that are expected to be the most pressing problem in the future, improving 

our understanding of how changes in emissions have altered the atmospheric chemistry, and 

improving the capability to control emissions of multiple pollutants in a cost-effective manner. 

By achieving this LTG, ORD’s research will provide OAR and the states and tribes with better 

monitoring methods and models, better information on what sources impact air quality, including 

intercontinental air pollutant transport, more accurate emission inventories, and up to date 

information on the performance of pollution controls. These improved tools and data will enable 

OAR and the states and tribes to more accurately link sources to ambient concentrations 

and to design more targeted control strategies to reduce emissions and ambient 

concentrations, ultimately resulting in cleaner air. 

In addition, these more accurate data and predictions will also provide a foundation for future 

health studies by generating speciated information on ambient PM concentrations, and mass 

concentration data over time periods shorter than 24 hours. To the extent ambient monitors 

adequately represent personal exposures to PM components, these more detailed air quality data 

can then be used in epidemiological studies to evaluate both the effectiveness of control 

strategies applied to date, as well as health effects associated with specific particle types over 

shorter exposure periods. These efforts will require close coordination and integration between 

the health and exposure research and the implementation related research to address the 

increasingly complex task of understanding the causes of adverse health effects. This integration 

and the ensuring information are critical to allowing future PM standards to take into account as 

many measures as possible to ensure that public health is adequately protected. 

The 2014 LTG is the last long term goal in this MYP. The research under this LTG is focused 

on exposure and health effects associated with long-term exposure to ambient PM, and a more 

complete evaluation of particulate matter components and susceptibility issues associated with 

short-term PM exposures. Long term exposure to PM has not been examined in as much detail 

as short term exposure. There may well be significant differences in toxic particle attributes, 

exposure patterns, biological mechanisms, and susceptibility compared to these same issues 

related to short term exposure, which (if the differences are substantial) could have significant 

impacts on the form and level of PM standards. Based on existing economic cost/benefit data, 

such changes could have enormous impacts on the benefits associated with PM reductions 

because of the impact of shortened lifespans in cost/benefit analyses. Achievement of this LTG 

will provide ORD risk assessors with more complete information on how the exposure 

patterns and health effects associated with long term exposure differ from those associated 

with short term exposure, which in turn will enable OAR to identify what changes, if any, are 

needed to make the PM NAAQS adequately protective. 

Scientific interactions between the LTGs are continuous, and are in some cases difficult to 

specifically identify. For instance, the exposure and health effects research supporting the 2009 

LTG is anticipated to provide better information linking adverse health effects to particles from 

specific sources. As it becomes available, this information will be incorporated into activities 

18

under the 2012 LTG to ensure that emissions from the appropriate sources are well characterized 

and that the necessary modeling, monitoring, and measurement methods have been developed to 

allow OAR and the states and tribes to effectively target the sources of most concern. Likewise, 

improvements in ambient monitoring capability and in our understanding of how those more 

detailed data relate to personal exposure can form the basis for new health studies. The ability to 

monitor specific PM components or characteristics or to provide ambient PM concentration data 

on hourly instead of daily can provide the basis for improved health effects studies that link 

ambient PM concentrations to adverse health effects associated with exposure to PM. 

Description of the Flow Diagrams 

Each of the LTGs has a set of underlying APGs and APMs that, if met, are designed to achieve 

the LTG. In some cases, the research covered by the APGs and APMs can be conducted in 

parallel, but at some point the efforts must be integrated into a coherent picture that will 

ultimately improve our understanding of how emissions of PM, PM precursors, and copollutants 

are linked through human exposure to adverse health effects, and thus how we can reduce those 

health risks by reducing emissions in the most effective way. 

Table 1. 

2003-2004 2005-2008 2009-2011 

2006 LTG Increase Decrease NA 

2009 LTG Decrease Increase Decrease 

2010 LTG Level Increase Decrease 

2012 LTG Level Level Increase* 

2014 LTG Decrease Increase Increase 

Evolving LTG Emphases 

Note that changes denoted are averaged over the several years in each column and do not necessarily represent


annual changes.


*Assumes a revision in the NAAQS and associated increased implemention-related needs


To accomplish this, we mesh the programmatic needs outlined in the regulatory timeline (shown 

in Figure 2), which drives the dates for transferring information to OAR and other customers 

with scientific research timelines, that may be driven differently by the pace of scientific 

advancement. As a mission-oriented organization, the approach taken in the program and 

described in this Plan has been to focus on the regulatory timeline to define the timing of 

achieving the LTGs, while maintaining the scientific critical path. Taking this dual approach 

allows ORD to provide OAR, the Regions, states, tribes, and other customers with tools and 

information needed to implement the standards that are in place, while continuing to advance our 

understanding of risk identification, assessment, and management in a scientifically sound 

manner. The critical paths identified in this plan are those that define the scientific paths that 

need to be taken to achieve out-year APGs, the individual LTGs, and ultimately the desired 

19

short-term outcomes. 

Figures 4-7 illustrate the overall flow of the PM Program. Long term goals are shown at the 

bottom of each figure, with the APGs associated with each LTG included in the flow diagram 

illustrating how research progresses toward achievement of the LTG. As noted above, there are 

multiple APMs associated with each APG, and in some cases multiple research activities 

associated with individual APMs. For the purposes of the MYP, only APGs and LTGs are 

shown here (except in the case of the 2010 LTG, which shows the APMs associated with each 

APG). There is also considerable interaction between activities associated with the different 

LTGs, but these are not illustrated so that the overall flow can be more clearly seen. 

Research conducted under the 2006 LTG requires substantial interaction between the different 

research efforts that fall under this goal. The main thrusts of this implementation-related 

research are ambient monitoring, source measurements, air quality and receptor models, and 

control technology evaluation. Achieving this goal will require coordinating measurement and 

analysis methods for source and ambient samples and receptor modelers, as well as an 

understanding of the emission inventory data needs of air quality modelers. To most effectively 

meet the Agency’s desired outcome of reducing health risks associated with exposure to PM, 

researchers developing methods for emission and ambient measurements must be aware of what 

specific PM characteristics are of most interest to health effects researchers. Conversely, 

advances in measurement techniques can provide more detailed information on PM 

characteristics that can influence health effects studies. 

The critical path for meeting the 2006 LTG is to complete and deliver the CMAQ model and 

emissions data needed for SIP preparation and implementation. These are tools and data needed 

by states, tribes, and OAR to meet the regulatory schedule. The 2006 LTG is designed to provide 

data for OAR and the states and tribes during SIP preparation between 2005 and 2007. Although 

the completion date for this LTG is 2006, the bulk of the work (as defined by the APMs, shown 

in the table in Appendix B) will be completed by 2005 and available to the end users. 

For the 2009 LTG, the ability to develop data for improved assessments of health risks will 

depend upon improving our understanding of: the relative toxicities of different PM 

characteristics (size, composition, etc.) in different physiological systems (pulmonary, cardiac, 

etc.), both in the presence and absence of copollutants, and in healthy and diseased populations; 

what portions of the population are most susceptible to health effects caused by PM exposure; 

and how these (and other people) are exposed to PM. Initially, research can proceed along 

largely parallel paths as basic information is gathered. As specific PM characteristics are 

identified or eliminated as being particularly active in biological systems, results from exposure 

and susceptibility studies can be incorporated to improve the applicability of the program to the 

standard setting process. Data from emissions measurements will be used to determine what PM 

characteristics are most prevalent, and monitoring data will be used to evaluate the relationships 

between ambient and personal exposures. 

20

The critical paths identified for the 2009 and 2014 LTGs represent the scientific steps needed to 

address the questions reflected in the National Academy of Science recommendations. The 

timing of these LTGs are set to provide the latest health and exposure information possible to the 

NAAQS review process, rather than the achievement of specific scientific findings. The critical 

paths for these research areas illustrate the logical scientific progression necessary to achieve the 

more detailed APGs, which in turn support the regulatory program through a transfer of 

knowledge as outlined in the LTGs. 

The critical path to meet the 2009 LTG is to determine the effects of exposure to elevated PM 

concentrations, begin identification of susceptibility factors and at the same time identify the PM 

attributes resulting in toxic responses following short-term exposure, and characterize the 

combined effects of PM and gaseous copollutants. The last two topics are focused on effects in 

healthy populations. To be able to link ambient PM to effects, especially in susceptible 

populations, exposure studies are also required. Studies to determine the critical factors 

governing exposure to specific PM constituents will be followed by characterization of such 

exposures, and finally by the development of a model to enable exposure estimates to be made 

for a wide range of situations. The work under the 2009 LTG is timed to provide data to the next 

revision of the PM AQCD, so that the most up to date information is available for regulatory 

decision makers to support their efforts to review and retain or revise the PM NAAQS during the 

next review cycle expected to occur in 2008. Although the completion date of the LTG is 2009, 

much of the work is scheduled to be completed in 2008 or earlier. 

The 2010 LTG is most closely tied to the regulatory schedule, since preparation and review of the 

PM AQCD is a required step in the NAAQS review process. Because of the cyclical nature of 

the NAAQS process, the initial APG describes the development of the PM Research Needs 

document, which derives from the AQCD. The critical path for meeting the 2010 LTG is 

represented by the 2008 APG, to integrate the body of PM-related research in order to assess the 

state of the science and provide that information to OAR through the PM AQCD itself, and 

through regular discussions and consultations with OAR. The 2010 LTG is scheduled to fit the 

projected 2008 PM AQCD revision. 

The 2012 LTG is focused on addressing implementation issues that are expected to exist after 

several years of implementing measures to meet the current NAAQS. The issues will be focused 

on addressing any residual non-attainment areas and providing implementation tools for potential 

revisions to the NAAQS. Improving the ability to measure and predict PM mass concentrations 

and to characterize and control PM sources will continue to be an issue in the future. For 

example, states have expressed the desire to use continuous mass ambient monitors to reduce the 

burden of collecting samples. These types of monitors could also provide more temporally 

refined estimates of PM concentrations for use health studies. There will also be a need to better 

understand the carbonaceous component of PM, which is expected to form the bulk of ambient 

PM after current regulatory strategies are implemented. Finally, as states and tribes refine their 

implementation plans, they will need a better understanding of the relationships between PM 

21

sources, PM precursors, and PM components, so that they can develop more effective control 

strategies. The LTG also includes aspects of integration of health and exposure sciences with 

implementation research. To most effectively meet the Agency’s desired outcome of reducing 

health risks associated with exposure to PM, researchers developing methods for emission and 

ambient measurements must be aware of what specific PM characteristics are of most interest to 

health effects and exposure researchers. Conversely, advances in measurement techniques can 

provide more detailed information on PM characteristics that can influence health effects and 

exposure studies. 

Based on current understanding (i.e., with no change in the basis of the PM NAAQS), the critical 

path for achieving the 2012 LTG will be to provide the prediction, measurement, and control 

technology tools needed to reduce mass and the information on how changes in emissions (and 

therefore ambient concentrations) impact atmospheric PM formation and transport. The 2012 

LTG is scheduled to provide data for any revision to the PM NAAQS that may occur following 

the 2008 NAAQS review cycle, and the work under this LTG will be in place by the time any 

implementation activities for a revised standard, if necessary, occur. 

For the 2014 LTG, many of the activities will be similar to those described for the 2009 LTG, but 

the emphasis will be on long-term exposure and how susceptibility factors influence the health 

effects and biological mechanisms of short and long-term PM exposures. Because the health 

impacts caused by long-term exposure may be significantly different, and may be caused by 

different PM characteristics, this research effort requires a special emphasis. The critical path for 

the 2014 LTG includes the identification of possible toxic particle attributes, biological 

mechanisms, dose-response relationships for susceptible populations, understanding personal 

exposures in a long-term context, defining methodologies required to gain the maximum amount 

of information from diverse data sets, and putting all these components together to determine the 

health effects associated with long-term exposure to PM. The 2014 LTG is scheduled to fit into 

the 2nd NAAQS review cycle, which is projected to occur in 2013. Again, the bulk of work under 

the 2014 LTG will be completed by 2013 so that results will be available for the review of the 

state of the science and the subsequent risk assessment. 

In summary, ORD’s PM Research Program is designed to improve the Agency’s capability to 

achieve its desired long term outcome of improved human health, through identification, 

assessment, and improved ability to manage risks associated with exposure to ambient PM. 

ORD will increase the capability of OAR to develop more effective and protective ambient air 

quality standards by improving the understanding of the source-transformation-exposure-effects 

chain for short- and long-term exposures to PM, especially for those people most susceptible to 

these adverse health effects. ORD will improve the capability of OAR, Regions, states, and tribes 

to implement these standards more effectively, through improved monitoring, air quality and 

source apportionment modeling, emission inventories, and control technologies. 

Communication 

22

Communication is a critical part of ORD’s PM Research Program, and entails much more than 

publishing research results or transmitting data to key customers. Effective communication 

requires in-depth interactions with customers, including listening to their needs and following up 

to ensure that information is understood and tools are capable of fulfilling their designed tasks. 

ORD has taken several steps to improve their communications with their customers. 

The NRC, in their second report, recommended the development and implementation of a formal 

management structure to ensure that research results on implementation topics were quickly 

transferred to end users in OAR and the states. ORD and OAR developed such a management 

structure and are now using it to support continuing interactions between science and policy 

managers and staff. ORD participation in semiannual meetings of state and local working groups 

on air quality and receptor modeling, ambient monitoring, and emission factors and inventories 

provide a further means of communicating with end users of ORD’s PM research. 

ORD is also moving toward improved communication with our customers through changes in the 

formulation of LTGs, APGs, and APMs. By stating LTGs and APGs in terms of desired 

outcomes that reflect the impacts of ORD research on the ability of our customers to make 

science-based decisions, the PM MYP is more explicitly incorporating the need to communicate 

results as part of the research effort. And beginning in 2005, the successful achievement of each 

APG will be marked by the publication of a document summarizing the research conducted 

under that goal and the implications of that research for policy decision makers. 

In some cases, however, more extensive efforts may be needed to fully achieve the levels of 

communication necessary to ensure that ORD’s research is as useful as possible in its objectives 

of moving the Agency closer to its desired outcomes. For instance, efforts associated with 

developing air quality models that are expected to be broadly applied by states and tribes will 

require significant participation by OAR as well as ORD, and will also need an on-going 

technical support effort that reaches beyond the traditional research and development work. 

Current communication efforts with the states and tribes are often conducted via OAR and their 

outreach efforts. While these channels are capable of making external groups aware of research 

efforts and results, they do not provide the ability for in-depth discussions of technical details 

that may be of interest to the end users. The research and technical transfer efforts described in 

this document reflect the status quo; proposed additional communication efforts are outlined in 

the following section. 

Potential Additional Work 

Accountability 

The broadest unfunded research issue not covered by any other LTG is the issue of 

accountability. While reductions in the number of PM nonattainment areas and the population 

23

living in those areas are certainly indications of improved environmental health, they do not 

directly address the measures that led to the revision of the standard in 1997 - increased 

morbidity and mortality associated with increases in ambient PM concentrations. Complete 

accountability requires that measurements be made to determine the degree to which the PM 

NAAQS have led to improved health, especially among the most susceptible populations. A 

proposed new LTG for this area is: 

By 2016, measure and report on the improvement in public health due to the 1997 revision 

and subsequent implementation of the PM NAAQS. 

The date for this LTG would be aligned with the regulatory timeline, providing time for the


standard to be implemented, reductions in PM concentration to be measured, and studies of


health effects to occur. Ideally, accountability efforts would be broader than for PM alone,


although the level of effort required to achieve the PM NAAQS and the projected improvements


in public health from its implementation are such that quantifying the air quality and health


improvements directly attributable to the PM NAAQS is by itself a valid goal. Suggested APGs


under this goal include:


APG 1 - Publication of periodic reports to document progress toward achieving the goal of


improved health (2006, 2011, 2016)


APG 2 - Measure baseline health levels to which subsequent health measures will be compared


(2007), and subsequent health levels during and after source reductions are taking place (2014)


APG 3 - Develop improved biomarkers and methods to quantify changing exposures to and


health effects from ambient PM (2009)


APG 4 - Quantify and report actual and avoided costs of PM reductions (2010)


APG 5 - Determine changes in atmospheric chemistry resulting from PM NAAQS


implementation, and how further source reductions will be related to further ambient reductions


(2007, 2013)


APG 6 - Identify which source reductions have contributed most to ambient reductions, or which


sources need to be reduced or further reduced to achieve compliance through use of source


apportionment methods (2008, 2015)


The CENR Strategic Research Plan for Particulate Matter notes that an “overriding need” is the


“development of a PM Accountability Design Plan” that would address the approaches needed to


quantify changes and to draw scientifically defensible associations between changes in


emissions, ambient concentrations, human exposure, and adverse health effects. 


The remaining additional work is largely covered by the existing LTGs, but represents needs for


additional resources to cover expected personnel loss, conduct the next research step, or


accelerate existing work. 


Accelerated Investigation of Source-Exposure-Effects Links 

24

Current research to link sources through exposure to health effects can be accelerated 

considerably by taking advantage of several opportunities in an integrated approach. The PM 

Supersites data collection efforts are either completed or nearing completion, OAR’s Speciation 

Trends Monitoring Network is beginning operation, the PM Centers are moving quickly toward 

recompetition, and ORD’s in-house source-based toxicity studies have completed initial studies 

and are moving toward increasingly complex investigations. In addition to this, the results of the 

ARIES project and the Southern California Supersite/Center have highlighted interest in the 

types of information that may be possible through epidemiological studies that are designed from 

the beginning to examine the relationships linking source emissions and adverse health effects. 

Although the ORD PM Research Program is currently conducting work to understand these links 

and identify the sources of particles that are most damaging to health, expanding and accelerating 

these efforts have the potential to provide important information in support of standard setting. 

The Program’s current capacity to carry out these studies is limited, resulting in an extended 

schedule toward completion. An expanded effort would include: 

- Use of monitoring methods developed and tested by the Supersites, as well as potential use of 

the expertise developed during the Supersites program, to collect detailed speciation data in 

carefully selected locations. 

- Concurrent exposure studies of source-specific PM. 

- Concurrent health measurements, including heart rate variability and lung function. 

- Epidemiological studies in the same locations as the detailed monitoring studies to evaluate 

associations of source-specific PM concentrations with health metrics. 

- Accelerated experimental studies of animal and human exposures to particles from wellcharacterized sources, including particle aging in atmospheric reaction chambers. 

- Accelerated clinical and in vitro studies of concentrated ambient particles, including source 

apportionment to determine particle sources. 

As increasing amounts of research are conducted to determine the effects of exposure to PM, the 

task of revising the PM AQCD to adequately report on the state of the science becomes more 

extensive. Additional staff is needed by NCEA to adequately review, synthesize, and document 

the increased amount of research being generated for the development of the AQCD and support 

to OAR’s development of the Staff Paper and standard revisions. 

Acceleration of PM Health Effects Research 

Research, whether conducted at EPA or supported extramurally, has not progressed at the speed


anticipated by the NRC in their initial report in 1998, due to the complexity of the issues. To


accelerate the priority research on health effects caused by PM exposure, additional funding


would expand ORD’s efforts in the following research areas:


Determination of the health effects associated with long term PM exposure. Understanding the


health effects of long term exposure to PM has been recognized as one of the greatest health


25

research needs. Current intramural funding in this area has enabled ORD to begin a small 

chronic effects program that is funding pilot studies to identify potential cohorts, appropriate 

geographical locations, and the appropriate exposure measurements and health end points that 

will be required. Additional resources would be used to increase our ability to address the 

NRC’s recommended research in this area, specifically to develop, improve, and evaluate the 

biological significance of end points used to measure the health effects of long term exposure, to 

better characterize the health effects of long term exposure to PM in animals and humans, and to 

develop and refine better surrogates for exposure of the cohort and verify surrogates of exposure 

are accurate by monitoring a cohort subset. 

Develop animal models for susceptible human populations. Unlike many other air pollutants the 

EPA has studied in the past that primarily target the respiratory system, PM exposure has also 

been found to cause significant changes in the cardiac and circulatory systems. There are 

currently very few animal models of human cardiovascular disease that can be applied to PM. In 

order to fully understand why certain diseases render an individual more susceptible to PM, 

better animal models must be developed, particularly those that use cutting-edge transgenic 

technology to target specific disease processes. 

Determine the interaction of PM with gaseous co-pollutants. One of the ten priority areas 

identified by the NRC was to understand the interactions between PM and other air pollutants, 

relative to health effects. Current toxicological research is focused primarily on characterizing 

the effects of specific PM components in an effort to identify the fraction(s) of ambient PM 

responsible for adverse health effects. Given resource constraints, research on effects of 

simultaneous exposures to PM and gaseous co-pollutants will progress at a limited rate. 

Improved Communications of Technical Information and Tools 

Communicating the results of ORD’s PM research is critical to the long-term utility of the work. 

Depending upon the topic, the most effective communication venues may be scientific symposia, 

conferences, and journals, particularly if the primary audience of interest is the scientific 

community. In other cases, however, more in-depth technology transfer is needed. This is 

particularly true for implementation-related efforts whose end users are usually regulatory 

agencies at the Regional, state, tribal, and local levels, or technical experts in the regulated 

community. In these instances, there is a need for channels of more focused communication, 

including meetings with state and local agencies and experts, workshops on emission 

measurements, air quality and receptor modeling, and monitoring. In addition, effective 

communication would also include a dedicated contact person in a particular area that would 

provide support for the external outreach efforts noted above as well as for hotline-type activities 

that external customers could contact in between the technical meetings. 

26

APPENDIX A


Details of Cross-Program Links


Ozone 

Improvements to air quality models and to emission models and inventories for PM will benefit 

ozone prediction efforts by improving the accuracy of model inputs and the modeling of 

atmospheric reactions of organic compounds. Many of the modeling issues (emission 

inventories, atmospheric chemistry, processing speed, etc.) for PM and ozone are the same, 

resulting in benefits to both programs. Studies of the health effects associated with PM 

copollutants will include ozone, which will improve our understanding of how the presence of 

ozone in the ambient atmosphere impacts public health. Currently planned human exposure 

studies are focusing on both PM and Air Toxics. The studies will also include a source-based 

component to identify potential sources of PM and Air Toxics and how these sources impact 

human exposures. 

Air Toxics


The increased emphasis on carbonaceous particles in the PM program will provide additional


information on emissions of organic and inorganic HAPs as inventories are improved and as


source apportionment models are applied to better understand carbonaceous PM sources. In


particular, studies of open burning and mobile source emissions will increase our understanding


of HAP sources and their contribution to ambient concentrations.


Climate Change


PM research to better quantify and understand emissions of elemental carbon has important


implications for climate change. “Black carbon,” which is in many (but not all) cases the same


as elemental carbon, has been suggested in several studies as increasing the rate of climate


change. Efforts to improve measurement and inventories of elemental carbon will provide


important information to climate change researchers who are evaluating the impacts of black


carbon. Alternatively, organic carbon is thought to decrease the rate of climate change, as are


sulfate particles, and efforts to reduce these pollutants will also impact estimates of climate


change.


Mercury


Evaluations of how changes in control technologies, particularly the use of selective catalytic


reduction (SCR), can lead to increased emissions of acid aerosols (H2SO4) and sulfur trioxide


(SO3) that can often form visible plumes are also important to understanding how these


technologies may impact mercury speciation. SCRs are thought to affect mercury speciation and


capture potential, so research on control technologies to reduce PM can impact mercury capture,


and vice versa.


27

APPENDIX B: Long Term Goals and Associated Annual Performance Goals and Annual 

Peformance Measures 

Note: Resource levels are not reflected in the APMs or APGs, and there is significant variation 

between the expected resources allocated to APMs and APGs. Thus, an APG with few APMs 

may have as much or more funding associated with it as an APG having many APMs. Funding 

levels may also fluctuate for a specific APG or APM over the course of several years, depending 

upon the needs of the research at a given time. 

APGs and APMs: PM 2.5 Implementation LTG 

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND MEASURES YEAR 

LAB/ 

CENTER Classification 

LTG - By 2006, develop and transfer new data and 

tools needed by OAR and the states to predict, 

measure, and reduce ambient PM and PM 

emissions to attain the existing PM NAAQS. 

2006 ORD N/A 

2003 APG - Deliver tools and methods to regulators 

that help determine sources of PM measured at 

ambient monitors; improve emission estimates for 

ammonia and directly emitted PM; improve 

ambient PM measurements; evaluate air quality 

models; assess control options to improve PM 

NAAQS implementation plans. 

2003 ORD Internal 

APM Prepare a report evaluating a new PM control 

technology, electrostatic fabric filtration, for 

use on coal-fired boilers. 

2003 NRMRL Key 

APM To support the OAR PM regulatory program, 

produce a paper on emissions of ammonia 

from hog waste lagoons, both before and after 

application of mitigation techniques. 

2003 NRMRL Key 

APM Complete analysis of organic compounds in 

PM samples from combustion sources. ta 

will be used to update an OAR database used 

by states to determine sources of ambient PM. 

2003 NRMRL Key 

APM 

Complete a summary paper characterizing 

fugitive fine particle emissions from 

construction activities. 

2003 NRMRL Reporting 

Da

28

APG - Provide improved information on emissions 

of fine particles to support analyses of 

implementation strategies. 

2004 NRMRL Internal 

APM Develop improved emission factors for heavy 

duty diesel trucks 

2004 NRMRL Internal 

APM Provide data on improved control technologies 

including electrostatically enhanced fabric 

filters and other hybrid PM collection 

technologies 

2004 NRMRL Internal 

APG - Deliver improved receptor-oriented models 

and new data on chemical compounds emitted from 

sources to OAR and states to improve their ability 

to identify types of sources that contribute to the 

mass of particulate matter (PM) in the ambient air 

so that more effective PM emission control 

strategies can be developed to achieve attainment of 

the PM NAAQS. 

2005 NERL/ 

NRMRL 

External 

APM Deliver to OAR and the States an alternative, 

easy-to-use receptor model that identifies the 

relative source contributions for PM pollution 

needed to develop effectively targeted control 

strategies. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APM Deliver to OAR and the states a receptor- 2005 NERL External 

oriented modeling tool that identifies 

important source regions and quantifies 

relative source contributions for PM that can 

be used to more effectively target source 

control strategies. 

APM 

APM 

Report on speciated organics source profiles 

from gasoline-fueled motor vehicles, for use in 

source apportionment of ambient samples. 

2005 NERL 

Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

improved PM2.5 compositional profiles for 

emissions from three major pulp and paper 

mill processes. 

2003 NRMRL 

Internal 

Internal 

29

APM Provide detailed information on chemical 

species emitted from oil burners and furnaces 

and transfer these findings through reports and 

journal articles to OAR and the states so they 

can utilize them in models that identify which 

sources are contributing to measured 

concentrations of PM in ambient air. 

2005 NRMRL External 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR improved PM 

emission factors and compositional profiles for 

commercial jet aircraft engines. 

2005 NRMRL Internal 

APG - Deliver to OAR and states an updated air 

quality model with improved atmospheric 

chemistry and processing speed, and improved data 

on emissions and ambient concentrations used as 

inputs to the model, for use in preparation and 

evaluation of SIP development, application, and 

compliance determination. 

2006 NERL/ 

NRMRL 

Internal 

APM Test CMAQ model predictions against a year’s 

trace gas and PM measurements from the 

speciation network and Supersites to build 

confidence in the CMAQ’s use by States in 

their PM NAAQs implementation. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APM Evaluate Models-3/CMAQ for particulate 

matter using episodic data. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APM Provide a PM chemistry model for 

incorporation into SIP modeling that includes 

the key chemical reactions that control the 

concentrations of organic and inorganic 

compounds in PM. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APM Deliver to OAR and States an updated CMAQ 

release for SIP development with improve 

performance in predicting nitrates and organics 

and increased processing speed. 

2005 NERL Internal 

APM Provide measurements of the estimated 

biogenic emissions contribution to ambient 

PM which can be used to develop more 

effective implementation strategies for 

reducing ambient PM levels. 

2005 NERL Internal 

30

APM Deliver to OAR, States, and the scientific 

community data from the Supersites program 

via an internet accessible large relational 

database that can be utilized for air quality 

model evaluation and to perform integrated 

analyses of data from the various Supersite 

locations. 

2005 NERL Internal 

APM Transfer to OAR and the states scientific 

information describing how ammonia sinks 

influence the level of emitted ammonia that is 

transferred to the well mixed atmosphere. 

2005 NRMRL Internal 

APM Deliver to OAR and the States results from the 

Supersites program that can be used to prepare 

and evaluate SIPs. 

2006 NERL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

data on emissions of ammonia from cattle and 

poultry raising operations. 

2006 NRMRL Internal 

APG - Transfer to OAR and the states information 

on the performance, cost effectiveness, and 

applicab ility of c ontrol tech nologies for PM and PM 

precursors 

2006 NRMRL Internal 

APM Transfer to OAR technical information to 

guide the development of SO2 and NOx 

control technology requirements for coal-fired 

boilers, to prevent formation of visible acid 

aerosol plumes. 

2005 NRMRL Internal 

APM Report on cost and performance of combined 

PM/PM precursor pollution control systems. 

2006 NRMRL Internal 

31

APGs and APMs: PM Short Term Exposures LTG 

LTG - By 2009, develop and transfer to ORD and 

OAR new exposure, epidemiological, toxicological, 

and clinical data for improved assessments of health 

risks associated with short-term exposure to PM, 

especially in susceptible populations. 

2009 NHEERL/ 

NERL/ 

NCER/ 

NRMRL 

N/A 

APG - Describe health effects of PM and its 

components in normal and susceptible populations, 

mechanisms by which PM exerts adverse health 

effects, and analyze ambient and personal exposure 

to PM for submission to ORD and OAR in support 

of future PM Air Quality Criteria Documents and 

NAAQS development 

2003 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Describe the relative importance of PM 

attributes (physical, chemical, and biological) 

on health outcomes in laboratory animals and 

humans. 

2003 NHEERL Internal 

APM Ascertain attributes of susceptibility 

contributing to the responsiveness of 

cardiovascular- and pulmonary- compromised 

humans and laboratory animals. 

2003 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on the acute respiratory health effects 

of particulate matter and co-pollutants among 

asthmatic children in seven U.S. communities 

(ICAS). 

2003 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on the chronic respiratory health effects 

in children of intra-urban gradients of 

particulate matter and co- pollutants in El 

Paso, TX. 

2003 NHEERL Internal 

APM Publish report on the empirical and theoretical 

lung deposition dose of ultrafine, fine, and 

coarse particles in elderly and mild asthmatic 

subjects under various breathing conditions. 

2003 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on the cardiovascular health effects 

associated with combined exposure to PM and 

gaseous co-pollutants. 

2003 NCER Internal 

32

APM 

APM 

APM 

Report on the respiratory health effects 

associated with ultrafine, fine and coarse 

particles in laboratory animals. 

2003 NCER 

Report on the association between organic 

components of PM and health endpoints in 

susceptible subpopulations. 

Internal 

2003 NCER Internal 

2003 NCER Internal 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

Report on ambient exposure to PM size 

fractions and components, and biomarkers of 

exposure. 

APG - Provide reports to OAR and the scientific 

community that examine the health effects of high 

levels of air pollutants, especially particulate 

matter, in potentially susceptible populations so 

that future PM standards protect human health to 

the maximum extent possible. 

APM Report on epidemiologic studies examining 

acute cardiac and respiratory effects in the 

elderly and children exposed to PM and copollutants. 

APM Report on the chronic respiratory health effects 

in children of intra-urban gradients of 

particulate matter and copollutants in EL Paso, 

TX . 

APG - Identify toxic source based components to be 

assessed for dose response studies 

APM Report on the role of source attributed PM 

constituents in mediating cardiopulmonary 

injury in healthy humans and animal models. 

APM Determine the relative toxicity of PM derived 

from various combustion sources (oil, coal 

etc.). 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

APG - Describe health effects of different PM sizes 

in healthy animals and humans 

2005 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Distinguish the respective toxic potentials of 

model and ambient PM size fractions in 

healthy animals and humans. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

33

APM Describe mechanisms by which different size 

fractions m ediate pulmonary injury, us ing a 

model in vitro culture system. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on the respiratory health effects 

associated with concentrated airborne particles 

from Fresno in healthy rats. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APG - Identify factors of susceptibility for acute 

PM exposures in susceptible subgroups 

2006 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Report on the deposition and effects of fine 

and ultrafine PM in compromised animal 

models. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Describe respiratory deposition dose of 

ambient particles in moderate asthmatic and 

COPD patients. 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on development of a better rat model of 

human chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 

demonstrate its utility in PM health effects 

studies. 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

APM Relate the effects of exposure to various PM 

and PM surrogates on cardiopulmonary 

function and inflammation in a susceptible 

animal model. 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe cardiopulmonary effects of ambient 

PM on select susceptible populations. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on factors (e.g., diabetes) that may 

predispose to increased risk of hospital 

admissions associated with PM exposure. 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Report on the relationship of exposure to 

ambient PM and heart rate variability in two 

epidemiology studies. 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Report on cardiopulmonary responses to fine 

and ultrafine particles in clinical studies of 

healthy subjects and two sensitive subgroups. 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Determine whether cigarette smokers are a 

sensitive population with respect to diesel 

exhaust. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

34

APM Describe biological mechanisms by which 

inhaled concentrated particles affect 

cardiopulmonary endpoints in at least two 

animal models of disease. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APM Comprehensive assessment of health effects of 

ultrafine particles. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APG - Determine the critical factors influencing 

exposure to PM constituents with potential for 

short-term health effects using measurement data 

and exposure modeling for the general and 

susceptible populations. 

2006 NERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Provide an analysis of key factors influencing 

indoor concentrations of PM and describe their 

impact on short-term personal exposures to be 

used by EPA to improve PM exposure 

assessments. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APM Develop a probabilistic exposure and dose 

model for PM capable of predicting population 

exposures to selected PM constituents that 

may be responsible for observed health effects 

so that EPA can produce improved exposure 

and risk assessments for short-term exposure 

to PM. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APM Analyze existing data on PM composition to 

identify key factors which influence human 

exposures to PM constituents. 

2005 NERL Internal 

APM Develop models of exposure tha t character ize 

Northwest aerosols and assess contributions from 

different sources. 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Identify the critical physical, 

microenvironmental and other exposure factor 

data needs for assessing short-term exposure to 

PM constituents using a probabilistic exposure 

and dose model. 

2006 NERL Internal 

APG - Characterize combined effects of PM and 

gaseous co-pollutants on healthy animals and 

humans 

2008 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

35

APM Describe cardiopulmonary effects of PM and 

gaseous co-pollutants in healthy humans. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Evaluate an animal and in vitro bioassay for 

assessing the relative potency of surrogate PM 

and/or its components. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe cardiopulmonary effects of diesel 

exhaust particles in healthy humans. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Provide three examples of coherent biological 

responses between animal toxicology and 

human population studies. 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APG - Identify and link effects and mechanisms of 

toxicity for PM constituents/sources 

2008 NHEERL/ 

NCER/ 

NRMRL 

Internal 

APM Assess oxidative effects of PM metals and 

peroxides in the lung. 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on biological mechanisms activated by 

diesel exhaust particulate in a mouse asthma 

model and in in vitro studies. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Characterize the effects of ambient PM and/or 

its components on cardiac cells. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on organic chemical constituents of 

PM, including PAHs and quinones, and 

determination of 

toxicity. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Prepare a report demonstrating that the 

biological effect of PM is dependent on a 

mobilization of host metal with a resulting 

elevation in catalytically active metal and 

oxidative stress. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe the signal transduction pathways 

through which PM causes inflammation in 

pulmonary epithelial cells. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Application of a molecular profiling approach 

to ascertaining cardiopulmonary effects in 

healthy animal models after model and 

ambient PM exposures. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

molecular mechanisms of 

36

APM Describe a molecular profiling approach to 

characterize cardiopulmonary effects in 

humans and cultured cells exposed to PM. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Link health effects in humans exposed to PM 

with specific sources of pollution. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Provide a detailed model describing the 

molecular events which control PM-induced 

pulmonary effects. 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APM Use high resolution computer simulations to 

target the dose to various sites in human lungs, 

linking to local tissue burden of and cellular 

response to PM. 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APM Examine responses of healthy adults to CAPs 

and traffic-related particulate to assess 

mechanisms of cardiovascular health effects. 

2007 NCER Internal 

APM Develop data on the size distribution and 

detailed chemical composition of fresh and 

aged combustion-generated particles produced 

from full- and pilot-scale systems for use in 

real time inhalation toxicology studies. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APG - Generate new data and analyses to 

characterize exposure and exposure factors for the 

general an d suscepti ble subp opulatio ns for PM 

constituents and co-pollutants from various sources 

with potential for short-term health effects using 

exposure measurements and modeling. 

2009 NERL Internal 

APM Complete field data collection for field studies 

to assess ambient, indoor, outdoor, and 

personal exposure to PM constituents and copollutants with potential for short-term health 

effects and compile a database of toxic agent 

concentrations, exposures, participant 

activities, and exposure factors to be used for 

model input and evaluation. 

2007 NERL Internal 

37

APM Report on personal exposures and indoor air 

concentrations for PM constituents and copollutants with potential for short-term health 

effects for the general population and sensitive 

subpopulations. 

2008 NERL 

APM Report on the magnitude and variability of the 

relationships between personal exposure, and 

indoor, outdoor and ambient air concentrations 

and factors that contribute to the variability for 

PM constituents and co-pollutants with 

potential for short-term health effects for the 

general population and sensitive 

subpopulations. 

2009 NERL 

Internal 

Internal 

Internal 

Internal 

Internal 

Internal 

Internal 

APM Report on the influence of various sources on 

exposure to PM constituents and co-pollutants 

by applying source apportionment techniques 

to personal and indoor air PM data. 

2009 NERL 

APG - Produce a refined and evaluated exposure 

model for predicting population distributions of 

exposure and dose for PM constituents and copollutants from various sources with potential for 

short-term health effects. 

2009 NERL 

APM Refine population exposure model for PM 

constituents and co-pollutants using available 

data and improved algorithms, and apply 

refined model in a case-study to predict 

exposures for the general population and 

susceptible subpopulations to PM constituents 

and co-pollutants. 

2007 NERL 

APM 

APM 

Evaluate population exposure model against 

new exposure data on PM constituents and copollutants from NERL or other measurement 

studies. 

2008 NERL 

Incorporate source apportionment in model 

prediction of population exposure and dose for 

PM constituents and co-pollutants. 

2009 NERL 

38

APGs and APMs: Air Quality Criteria Document LTG 

N/A 

APG - Identify and communicate research needs 

and develop research strategies and plans to 

improve scientific information supporting the next 

review of the NAAQS 

2006 NCEA/ 

NHEERL/ 

NERL/ 

NRMRL/ 

NCER 

External 

APM Research Needs Document published. 2005 NCEA External 

APM PM Research Strategy/Plan(s) developed and 

reviewed by CASAC. 

2006 NCEA/ 

NHEERL/ 

NERL/ 

NRMRL/ 

NCER 

External 

APG - Integrate research to assess scientific bases 

for the PM NAAQS and strengthen the scientific 

foundation for EPA PM NAAQS regulatory 

decisions 

2008 NCEA External 

APM PM AQCD Development Plan released for 

public comment and CASAC review. 

2006 NCEA External 

APM External Review Draft of the PM AQCD 

released for public comment and CASAC 

review. 

2007 NCEA External 

APM Final PM AQCD published and delivered to 

OAQPS. 

2008 NCEA External 

APG - Provide scientific and technical guidance and 

analyses to ensure strong scientific bases for 

regulatory decisions during the 2010 PM NAAQS 

rulemaking (staff paper, proposal and 

promulgation) process. 

2010 NCEA Internal 

APM Synthesis Report on ORD’s scientific 

contributions to the 2010 PM NAAQS 

Promulgation issued. 

2010 NCEA Internal 

LTG - By 2010, integrate and assess new findings in 

atmospheric, exposure, biological, and engineering 

sciences and regularly communicate the state of 

science to OAR to improve environmental decisionmaking for the PM NAAQS. 

2010 NCEA/ 

NHEERL/ 

NERL/ 

NRMRL/ 

NCER 

39

40

APGs and APMs: Post Sulfur Implementation Needs LTG 

LTG - By 2012, develop and transfer improved data 

and tools needed by OAR and the states to attain 

existing PM NAAQS, and by ORD and other 

scientists to refine the environmental factors related 

to health risks associated with PM exposure. 

2010 NERL/ 

NRMRL/ 

NCER 

N/A 

APG - Update and enhance tools used to model, 

measure, and reduce mass to improve 

implementation of mass based standards. 

2010 NERL/ 

NRMRL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Deliver to OAR a Federal Reference Method 

(FRM) to measure coarse particles for 

inclusion in the revised PM NAAQS. 

2005 NERL Internal 

APM Evaluation of continuous methods for 

composition and physical properties based on 

results from the Supersites programs. 

2006 NERL Internal 

APM Develop an Air Quality Forecasting model for 

particulate matter and visibility for use in 

short-term forecasts. 

2007 NERL Internal 

APM Deliver to OAR and the States an updated air 

quality model that includes coupled 

meteorology and air chemistry modules. 

2008 NERL Internal 

APM Evaluate the use of human exposure models to 

enhance implementation of PM NAAQS. 

2008 NERL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer data on the use of 

techniques to improve the cost effectiveness of 

reducing sulfur in transportation fuels. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APM Develop continuous methods for PM mass, 

chemical components, and major precursor 

species with improved accuracy and precision, 

fewer impacts from interferences, and with 

improved time resolution. 

2010 NCER Internal 

APM Provide techniques for modeling the 

intercontinental transport of particulate matter 

and precursors and their impact on U.S. 

ambient air quality. 

2010 NERL Internal 

41

APM Develop and transfer to OAR, the states, and 

regulated industries data on the performance of 

cost-effective pollution control technologies to 

reduce multiple pollutants, including PM and 

PM precursors. 

2010 NRMRL Internal 

APG - Produce data and tools to better predict and 

measure relationships between sources and fate of 

carbonaceous particles to address potential residual 

non-attainment issues. 

2009 NERL/ 

NRMRL 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Transfer to OAR and the States standards and 

improved methods for measuring the organic 

carbon and elemental carbon fractions of PM. 

2005 NERL Internal 

APM Report on the characterization of PAHs from 

two Los Angeles locations and assess 

atmospheric chemistry occurring during 

different seasons 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Provide to OAR and the States standards and 

improved methods for organic speciation of 

fine particles. 

2006 NERL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

test methods and equipment designs for 

determining PM emissions from off-road 

diesel construction equipment. 

2006 NRMRL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

improved emission factors for diesel-electric 

railroad locomotives. 

2007 NRMRL Internal 

APM Evaluation of molecular organic tracers for use 

in receptor models. 

2008 NERL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer data on emissions factors 

from off-road diesel construction equipment. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APM Transfer information to OAR and the states 

regarding emission rate and characteristics for 

open burning of biomass in wild and 

prescribed fires. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

42

APM Transfer to OAR and the states methods for 

temporal and spatial allocation of emissions 

from on-road diesel truck activity for GISbased modal emission models 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APM Transfer data to OAR and the states on the 

chemical characterization of carbonaceous PM 

as a function of particle size. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APM Transfer to OAR and the states fluorescence 

intensity methods for characterizing the 

composition of carbonaceous particles. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APM Develop and evaluate better methods for 

measuring a greater number of organic species 

in PM2.5, including polar organic compounds 

and semi-volatile organic species. 

2008 NCER Internal 

APM Identify and quantify new, organic, aerosol 

tracers in ambient samples for important 

PM2.5 sources. 

2008 NCER Internal 

APM Improve simulation of the chemical and 

physical transformation and transport of 

carbonaceous PM2.5 and improve 

fundamental processes for understanding air 

quality model development. 

2008 NCER Internal 

APM Measure and speciate carbonaceous PM2.5 for 

major combustion source categories including 

fossil fuel, agricultural burning, and wildfires. 

2008 NCER Internal 

APG - Transfer to OAR and the states data and 

tools to predict and measure how changes in 

emissions of PM and PM precursors due to control 

strategies impact the atmospheric formation and 

transport of PM to improve the effectiveness of 

control strategies to address residual 

nonattainment. 

2010 NERL/ 

NRMRL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Report on the composition of ultrafine 

particles from a variety of sources and assess 

the utility of these data for source attribution. 

2005 NCER Internal 

43

APM Develop a first generation chemistry module 

that can be used to predict the concentrations 

of free radicals, liquid water, inorganics 

including transition metals, and organics in 

ambient PM2.5 samples. 

2006 NERL Internal 

APM Deliver to OAR and the states an evaluation 

and recommendations for using various 

receptor modeling techniques based upon 

model applications using data from the 

Speciation Trends Network and the Supersites 

program. 

2007 NERL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

data on alternate animal waste disposal 

systems and their impacts on emissions and on 

local deposition of nitrogen to surrounding 

soils and water bodies. 

2007 NRMRL Internal 

APM Complete evaluation of a chemistry module 

that can be used by EPA and the states to 

predict the concentrations of free radicals, 

liquid water, organics and inorganics in 

ambient PM2.5 samples. 

2008 NERL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states the 

ability to identify and quantify fugitive source 

parti cle emissions us ing open path FTIR 

spectroscopy. 

2008 NRMRL Internal 

APM Improve estimates of the sources of PM2.5 and 

the regional variations in the importance of 

sources; and evaluate potential emission 

control strategies to examine effectiveness and 

potential trade-offs. 

2009 NCER Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

data on how long range transport of PM 

generated by wild and prescribed fires impacts 

local air quality. 

2010 NRMRL Internal 

APM Develop and transfer to OAR and the states 

data on the unresolved organic fraction of 

carbonaceous PM emissions. 

2010 NRMRL Internal 

44

45

APGs and APMs: PM Long Term Exposures LTG 

LTG - By 2014, develop and transfer to ORD and 

OAR new exposure, epidemiological, toxicological, 

and clinical data for improved assessments of health 

risks associated with long-term exposure to PM, 

especially in susceptible populations. 

2014 NHEERL/ 

NERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APG - Determine critical factors (methods, 

measurements, models) for assessing exposure in 

health stu dies of lo ng-term exposure to PM, PM 

constituents and co-pollutants. 

2004 NERL Internal 

Document the data and calculations needed to 

predict the long-term exposures to PM and its 

constituents so that EPA can better assess risks 

for long-term exposures to PM. 

2004 NERL Internal 

APG - Characterize long term cardiopulmonary 

effects of PM and co-pollutants based on existing 

cohorts 

2008 NCER Internal 

APM Report on the relationship between respiratory 

outcomes in the Children’s Health Study in 

California, and 1) traffic density and 2)specific 

PM sub-components including PAH, 

quinones, VOCs, semi-VOCs. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Report on the health effects of long-term 

exposure to particles and co-pollutants in at 

least two cohorts. 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Assess cardiovascular and other effects of 

long-term exposures to PM in at least three 

cohorts, applying improved methods of 

exposure assessment. 

2007 NCER Internal 

APG - Characterize long term respiratory health 

effects of PM in children. 

2009 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM An innovative protocol for incorporating 

testing for allergen sen sitizati on among a 

selected subsample of schoolchildren. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM A revised children's respiratory health 

questionnaire approved by OMB. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

46

APM Report on effects of particle composition on 

respiratory health of children. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APM Complete survey of the respiratory symptoms 

and pulmonary function among 4th and 5th 

grade school-children in second major urban 

area. 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APM Peer-reviewed scientific publication on the 

chronic respiratory health effects in children of 

intra-urban gradients of particulate matter and 

co-pollutants in a second major urban area. 

2009 NHEERL Internal 

APG - Strengthen health studies of long-term 

exposure by developing accurate surrogates of longterm exposure and describing exposure 

misclassification errors that may influence 

estimates of health risks for PM constituents and 

co-pollutants. 

APM Document current data gaps and initiate 

targeted studies to quantify critical factors for 

exposure in health studies of long-term 

exposure to PM, PM constituents and copollutants. 

2010 NERL Internal 

2005 NERL Internal 

2008 NERL Internal 

2009 NERL Internal 

2010 NERL Internal 

2010 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM 

APM 

APM 

Produce data and analyses that fill data gaps on 

critical factors for exposure in health studies of 

long-term exposure to PM, PM constituents 

and co-pollutants. 

Apply, evaluate and refine human exposure 

models for predicting long-term exposure to 

PM, PM constituents and co-pollutants. 

Using measurement and modeling results 

identify surrogates for exposure for predicting 

long-term exposures to PM, PM constituents 

and co-pollutants. 

APG - Assess the exposure-response relationship of 

short-term exposures to PM and source-based 

components in healthy and susceptible animals and 

humans. 

47

APM Assess exposure-response relationship of PM 

constituents related to adverse health effects in 

healthy populations. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Using newly available PM speciation 

monitoring data, compare the impact of 

different PM source types on health endpoints 

in at least 3 states. 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Describe cardiopulmonary effects of 

ultrafine/fine PM in healthy humans. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe cardiopulmonary effects of coarse 

PM in healthy humans and asthmatics. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Compare the relative potency of ultrafine, fine, 

and coarse PM in healthy humans. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe a bioassay approach to assess source 

directed PM constituents in the ambient 

environment. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on the relationship between exposure to 

traffic-related air pollutants and measures of 

health or biomarkers. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APM Assess exposure-response relationships in 

susceptible animals and humans of PM 

constituents. 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APG - Characterize combined effects of short-term 

exposures PM and gaseous co-pollutants in 

susceptible subgroups 

2010 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Report on associations between indoor and 

outdoor PM levels and health endpoints of 

individuals with COPD and recent Mis. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Report on acute cardiovascular responses to 

PM2.5 and NO2 in patients with chronic 

obstructive pulmonary disease. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Peer-reviewed scientific publication on the 

effects of diesel exposures 

adducts in asthmatics and non asthmatics. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

on nasal DNA 

48

APM Determine whether arsenic exposure augments 

diesel exhaust DNA damage. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on improvements in statistical methods 

in the analysis of data from epidemiological 

studies. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APM Report on relationship between PM, PM 

components, and co-pollutants and risk of 

cardiac and emergency department visits in 

Atlanta. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APM Peer-reviewed scientific publication on the use 

of alternative sentinels (Mexico City) to study 

chronic particulate matter exposures. 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe differences in responsiveness to 

between healthy and susceptible 

cardiopulmonary diseased animals to various 

PM and associated co-pollutants. 

2009 NHEERL Internal 

APM Peer-reviewed scientific publication on field 

collected diesel exposure biomarkers. 

2010 NHEERL Internal 

APG - Describe long term health effects of PM in 

animals 

2011 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Ascertain potential markers of 

cardiopulmonary and systemic effects of 

protracted exposures to CAPs in healthy and 

compromised animals. 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on health effects of CAPs in 

subchronic inhalation study using normal and 

susceptible mice. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APG - Describe 

effects and link effects to PM and PM components 

in susceptible subgroups. 

2011 NHEERL/ 

NCER 

Internal 

APM Report on the linkage between PM surrogates 

for dose such as lung particle burden and 

composition with site specific cell and tissue 

damage in human autopsy tissue. 

2004 NHEERL Internal 

the mechanisms of acute health 

49

APM Award grants received in response to 

solicitation on cardiovascular effects of PM 

exposure sponsored by EPA and partners. 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Publish the RFA for recompeting the PM 

Research Centers, identifying priority areas for 

research, with an emphasis on linking specific 

sources of PM to adverse health effects 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Award five-year grants to new PM Research 

Centers 

2005 NCER Internal 

APM Provide an analysis of size and composition 

specific respiratory dose of heterogeneous 

ambient aerosols in human lungs. 

2005 NHEERL Internal 

APM Develop an in vitro model of human 

susceptibility to PM exposure in lung cells. 

2006 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on acute effects of PM-derived metals 

on pulmonary cells in two studies. 

2006 NCER Internal 

APM Describe the cardiac and pulmonary health 

impacts of model and ambient PM on various 

animal models of cardiopulmonary disease 

(COPD, asthma, infection). 

2007 NHEERL Internal 

APM Report on effects of PM in an animal model of 

atherosclerosis. 

2007 NCER Internal 

APM Use molecular profiling to identify biomarkers 

of exposure or effect in healthy and susceptible 

people. 

2008 NHEERL Internal 

APM Assess the relative sensitivity to PM of select 

susceptible populations focusing on those with 

cardiovascular disease. 

2008 NHEERL Internal 

APM Describe the potential for molecular profiling 

approaches for identifying and assessing 

susceptibility factors in animals exposed to 

PM. 

2008 NHEERL Internal 

APM Develop an in vitro model of human lung 

susceptibility to PM exposure. 

2009 NHEERL Internal 

50

APM Describe new markers for acute 

cardio-pulmonary effects in elderly adults of 

recent exposures to particulate matter and 

pollutants. 

2010 NHEERL Internal 

APM Develop an in vitro model of human 

cardiovascular susceptibility to PM exposure. 

APG - Describe long-term health effects of PM and 

co-pollutants in humans. 

APM Award major grant for prospective 

observational epidemiology study of long-term 

exposure to ambient PM and associations with 

the natural history of cardiovascular disease, 

including indicators of sub-clinical disease, 

clinical disease incidence, mortality, and the 

assessment of physiological parameters 

indicative of the progression of disease. 

2011 NHEERL Internal 

2014 NCER Internal 

2004 NCER Internal 

APM Report on long-term effects of PM exposure 2011 NCER Internal

on progression of cardiovascular disease in 

adults, with analysis of effect modification by 

various risk factors. 

51

Resources Research 

Activities 

Outputs Clients Short-Term 

Outcomes 

Intermediat

Outcomes 

Outreach and Effective Transfer Environm

We apply our 

people’s 

expertise in 

health, exposure, 

atmospheric, and 

engineering 

sciences and and 

use our research 

facilities to 

expand the state 

of these 

sciences, in 

combination 

with funding and 

partnerships.. 

.. to explore the 

effects, 

exposure, 

formation, 

transport, 

measurement 

and control of 

PM, and PM 

precursors, and 

to link results 

from academic, 

industrial, and 

governmental 

research.. 

.. to identify the 

biological bases 

for health 

damage due to 

exposure to PM 

with specific 

composition and 

from specific 

sources and to 

quantify how 

PM is emitted, 

transformed, and 

transported in 

the atmosphere 

and controlled at 

the source,.. 

.. transferring 

to OAR, 

Regions, 

states, 

regional 

planning 

organizations, 

ORD, and the 

scientific and 

technical 

communities.. 

...the knowledge 

needed by 

environmental 

decision makers to 

develop air quality 

standards with the 

strongest possible 

scientific 

foundation, and the 

technical tools 

needed to 

implement effective 

air quality 

management 

strategies... 

...to attain the 

ambient air 

quality standar

and ensure the 

air in every 

American 

community wil

be clear, safe, 

and healthy to 

breathe for the 

general 

population and 

susceptible 

subpopulations

We communicate our work through peer-review journal articles and summary 

reports that formally document results; transfer models, methods, and data 

through workshops and collaborative activities; transfer knowledge, data, and 

tools to clients and receive feedback of client needs through workgroups and 

teams; and provide data to the public, the scientific and regulated community, 

and to our clients through state of the art use of the World Wide Web. 

Success will be 

NAAQS attain

health effects a

its components

visibility. 

Figure 1. Logic diagram for PM research program design. 
Final AQCD 

NAAQS Proposal 

NAAQS 

Promulgation 

FY03 FY04 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY05 FY02 

EPA Designates nonattainment areas 

States submit implementation plans for meeting 

the NAAQS 

m

Monitoring 

data collected 

for 3 years 

Final AQCD 

NA

Draft AQCD 

CD Development 

EP

Monitoring data collected for 3 years* 

Draft AQCD 

EPA proposes PM2.5 

Transport Rule 

EPA promulgates 

PM2.5 Transport 

Rule 

States recommend 

nonattainment areas 

Figure 2. Anticipated regulatory time line for promulgation and implementation of NAAQS and ass

programs, illustrating the cyclical nature of the program. 

*If needed 
Improved understanding 

of exposure and health effects 

Improved tools and data 

for implementation 

Improved health 

risk assessment 

Improved air 

quality standar

More effective 

implementation 

Reduced 

exposure 

2009 and 2014 LTGs 

2006 and 2012 LTGs 

2010 LTG 

ORD 

OAR 

States 

Public 

Standards 

Implement 

Standards 

Figure 3. Relationship of LTGs to OAR and EPA outcomes. The arrows represent information fl

key components of the research and regulatory programs. Bold arrows indicate the sequential inf

a particular NAAQS review cycle. ORD activities occur within the dotted lines. 

Set
Updated air quality 

model and 

emissions and 

ambient concentration data 

Performance and 

cost effectiveness of control 

technologies 

PM 

emissions 

and controls 

data 

Receptor 

model and 

source 

profiles 

By 2006, develop and transfer new data and tools to predict, measure, and reduce

ambient PM and PM emissions to attain existing PM NAAQS 

FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 

By 2012, develop and transfer improved data and tools needed by OAR and the states and 

attain the PM NAAQS, especially in areas that remain in nonattainment after initial control s

are implemented, and by ORD and other scientists to refine the environmental factors related 

risks associated with PM exposure. 

To

im

Data and tools to 

predict and 

measure sources 

and fate of 

carbonaceous 

particles for 

residual nonattainment 

FY08 FY09 

Research 

needs, 

strategies, 

and plans 

(2010 LTG) 

Integrate 

research 

results for 

regulatory 

decisions 

(2010 LTG) 

Figure 4. Implementation Research Flow Chart 
Identify 

mechanism

toxicity for 

constituen

sources 

FY03 

Character

combined ef

of PM an

gaseous c

pollutants 

healthy anim

and huma

Reports on high 

levels of air 

pollutants, 

especially 

particulate 

matter, in 

potentially 

sensitive 

populations 

Describe health 

effects of PM and 

its components in 

normal and 

susceptible 

populations, 

mechanisms by 

which PM exerts 

adverse health 

effects, and 

analyze ambient 

and personal 

exposure to PM 

Determine critical 

factors 

influencing 

exposure to PM 

constituents 

using 

measurement 

data and 

exposure 

modeling for 

general and 

susceptible 

populations. 

Identify factors of 

susceptibility for 

acute exposure in 

susceptible 

subgroups 

By 2009, develop and disseminate to ORD and OAR new epidemiological, toxicological, an

data for improved assessments of health risks associated with short-term exposure to PM in 

general and susceptible populations 

FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 

Research needs, 

strategies, and 

plans (2010 LTG) 

Integra

research re

for regula

decisions (

LTG) 

Describe health 

effects of 

different PM 

size in health 

animals and 

humans 

Identify toxic 

source-based 

components for 

dose-response 

studies 

Figure 5. Health and Exposure Flow Chart for 2009 (Short-Term Exposure) LTG 
Communicate 

research needs 

and develop

research 

strategies and

plans in support

of NAAQS 

review 

Integrate

research results 

to assess 

scientific bases 

for NAAQS and 

strengthen

foundation for 

regulatory

decisions 

FY05 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY06 

Publish PM 

Research Needs 

Document (APM) 

PM Research 

Strategy developed 

and reviewed by 

CASAC (APM) 

PMCD Development 

Plan release (APM) 

Release of PMCD 

External Review 

Draft (APM) 

Final PMCD 

published and 

delivered to OAQPS 

(APM) 

By 2010, integrate and assess new findings in atmospheric, exposure, biological, and envir

sciences and regularly communicate the state of the science to OAR to improve environm

decision-making for the PM NAAQS 

Figure 6. Flow Chart for 2010 (PM Criteria Document) LTG 
FY05-07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY04 

Determine 

critical factors 

(methods, 

measurements, models) 

for assessing 

exposure 

Characterize 

long term 

cardiopulmonary 

effects of PM 

and copollutants 

based on 

existing cohorts Characterize 

long term 

respiratory 

health effects 

in children 

Develop 

accurate 

surrogates of 

exposure and 

describe 

exposure 

misclassification errors 

Assess the 

exposureresponse 

relationship of 

PM sourcebased 

components in 

healthy & 

susceptible 

animals and 

humans 

Characterize 

combined 

effects of PM 

and gaseous 

co-pollutants in 

susceptible 

subgroups 

Describe the 

mechanisms of 

health effects 

and link effects 

to 

PM 

components in 

susceptible 

subgroups 

Describe long 

term PM health 

effects in 

animals 

(2006) 

Research 

needs, 

strategies, 

and plans 

(2010 

LTG) 

Integrate 

research 

results for 

regulatory 

decisions 

(2010 

LTG) 

Identify and link 

effects of 

toxicity for PM 

constituents/ 

sources (2009 

LTG) 

Characterize 

combined 

effects of PM 

and gaseous 

co- pollutants 

on healthy 

subjects 

LTG) acute PM & 

(2009 

By 2014, develop and transfer to ORD and OAR new exposure, epidemiological, toxicolog

clinical data for improved assessments of health risks associated with short- and long-term e

PM, especially in susceptible populations 

Figure 7. Health and Exposure Flow Chart for 2014 (Long-Term Exposure) LTG