What Have We Learned About PM Since 1997?
EPA has published a major report summarizing the scientific advances made by its extensive particulate matter research program.
The Agency has funded over $200 million in research on particulate matter in the last five years.
In a September 9, 2004 letter transmitting the report to Members of Congress, Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA’s head of research wrote: “The most notable consequence of the research achievements by EPA scientists and its research partners has been the strengthening of confidence that relationships between exposure to PM and increases in mortality and morbidity are in fact real.”
Gilman goes on to say: “We have made significant progress in understanding the influence of PM size and composition on unwanted health outcomes, in uncovering the biological mechanisms which link PM exposure to adverse health outcomes, and in elucidating the human characteristics which increase suseptibility to adverse health outcomes.”
EPA [www.epa.gov] offers the report, “Particulate Matter Research Program: Five Years of Progress,” online.
On September 27-28, 2004 EPA sponsored a meeting to highlight the scientific progress made by its PM research centers and by individual researchers. EPA has published the presentations online.
