Panel discussion review: session four--assessing biological plausibility of epidemiological findings in air pollution research.
In December 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored a 2-day workshop on "Interpretation of Epidemiologic Studies of Multipollutant Exposure and Health Effects" in Chapel Hill, NC. The final session at this workshop was devoted to assessing the biological plausibility of epidemiological findings with regard to criteria air pollutants. The presentations and the panel contributions of this last session primarily focused on controlled exposure studies and led to wide-ranging discussions, some of which were provocative. The panel summary provides some guidance to future evaluations of the biological plausibility of the epidemiological reports on criteria pollutants and is intended to stimulate thinking, without drawing any definitive conclusions. This paper does not approach, nor was it intended to approach, the more formal analytical approach such as that used in EPA's development of its Science Assessment Document for the criteria pollutants.
Brown
James S
JS
National Center for Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP, North Carolina 27711, USA. Brown.James@epa.gov
Graham
Judith A
JA
Chen
Lung Chi
LC
Postlethwait
Edward M
EM
Ghio
Andrew J
AJ
Foster
W Michael
WM
Gordon
Terry
T
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