Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment 8623D, 401 M St. SW, Washington, DC 20460

A -- INFLUENCE OF ALTERNATE INDICATORS OF EXPOSURE TO PM (OR PM COMPONENTS) IN STATISTICAL CORRELATIONS OF EXPOSURE WITH MORTALITY SOL NCEA-RTP-02 DUE 091898 POC Diane H. Ray, (919) 541-3637 E-MAIL: click here to e-mail the contact person, ray.diane@epa.gov. The National Center for Environmental Assessment located at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (NCEA/RTP) is planning to issue a Request for Application (RFA) for a competitive cooperative agreement (as authorized by the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, as amended) to stiumulate collaborative research on the influence of alternate indicators of exposure to PM (or PM components) in statistical correlations of exposure with mortality. At the time the Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter was prepared there were several epidemiologic studies using multiple years of TSP and PM10 data for the exposure estimate, but only one epidemiologic study using multiple years of PM2.5 data. This study had concentration data only for every other day. Since then no report using daily PM2.5 for multiple years has been published. There is, however, a three-year data base of PM2.5 and PM10 from 1992-1995 in Philadelphia. EPA is conducting XRF analyses of the filters from Philadelphia. The XRF concentrations, of elements from sodium to lead, may be used to estimate time series of daily PM concentraitons associated with various sources. Thus, it will be possible to examine statistical relationships between mortality and either specific chemical components or specific sources identified by techniques such as chemical mass balance modeling and factor analysis. The research question to be addressed by this RFA is, "Can alternate measures of exposure, such as everyday PM mass instead of every-other-day PM mass, PM size fractions (PM2.5, PM10, and PM10-2.5), visibility distance, individual chemical components, or contributions from specific source types provide a more reliable, statistically sigificant, or stronger statistical association than exposure measures used in previous studies?" The successful applicant will have research credentials in statistical and epidemiologic studies relating time series of exposure surrogates with time series of health outcomes. Information on the formal evaluation criteria will be incorporated in the final RFA. The anticipated duration of the cooperative research agreement is 3 years. The anticipated funding for the cooperative agreement will be approximately $100,000 per year for a total (direct plus indirect) cost of $300,000. Funding for the third year will be contingent on an acceptable progress report being submitted 6 months before anticipated beginning of the third year. In response to electronic or written requests, NCEA/RTP will mail out a solicitation package on or after August 7, 1998, which will describe the requirements of the RFA. Electronic requests should be e-mailed to "ray.diane@epa.gov." Written requests may be mailed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment, MD-52, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, Attn: Diane Ray. Responses to the RFA are due at NCEA/RTP not later than the close of business (5;00 p.m.), Eastern Daylight Savings Time, Septembe 18, 1998. Posted 07/17/98 (W-SN225080). (0198)

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