Air pollution is linked to tens of thousands of deaths each year.  Traditionally, when scientists conduct toxicology studies in the lab, they are able to identify few health effects from exposure to measured pollutants found in the air around us, analyzing each pollutant independently.

 

However, outside of the laboratory, people breathe a mixture of pollutants that are directly emitted (e.g. automobile, industrial stack) and others that are made in the air by chemical reactions.  Many of the products from these reactions are typically not measured or even known.

 

Scientists need to study not only the effects of individual pollutants, but how they affect human beings in combination with each other.

William Vizuete, PhD, assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, will be leading the GIL team which includes scientists from the UNC School of Medicine.   "Our role at UNC is to provide the necessary tools and expertise to systematically evaluate and diagnose the complex relationships found in these air quality models."

 

Partners include: UNC School of Medicine, UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, N.C. Dept. of Environmental and Natural Resources, the EPA and other collaborators.