In 24 Cities, Professors Study Pollution Effects

The health risks of heavy air pollution in selected areas of North America are being examined by a team of Harvard researchers, who are working on an expanded version of an earlier study of pollution in six cities.

The project, called the "24-Cities study," is being conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health (SPH), and focuses on the effects of high concentration of acid aerosols--the byproducts of burning fossil fuels--on children.

"We have been involved in studies of air pollution from power plants," said Douglas W. Dockery, associate professor of environmental science and physiology at the SPH, who is a co-investigator in the study.

The project originated in 1961 when Benjamin G. Ferris Jr., professor of environmental health and safety emiritus at SPH, began a study of the effects of air pollution in Berlin, New Hampshire. In 1974, Ferris's research evolved into the Six-Cities study, which in turn resulted in the creation of the 24-Cities study.

Six-Cities Study

The Six-Cities study showed that there were noticeable health effects, such as a substantial increase in respiratory illness in "dirty" cities, that resulted from the burning of coal and other fossil fuels. This process releases sulfur dioxide and other acidic chemicals into the air, said both professors.

The cities involved in the six-Cities study were Watertown, Mass,; Kingston-Harriman, Tenn.; St. Louis, Missouri; Steubenville, Ohio; Portage, Wis. and Topeka, Kansas.

"The purpose of the [Six-Cities] study was to provide air quality standards in the U.S.," said Dockery. "It was started in the mid-'70s, when it was felt that there would be a major change in the way electricity was generated," he said. This change was anticipated after OPEC launched an oil, embargo. The shortage of oil, many thought, would force U.S. power plants to switch to the use of coal for electricity generation.

Since such a shift did not occur, "we now see decay products of sulfur dioxide that move into acid rain" instead of direct sulfur dioxide pollution, Dockery said.

Expanded Project

As a result, the 24-Cities study was initiated to look into acid aerosols that stay suspended in the air and are "very toxic," said Dockery.

One difference between the two studies is that the 24-Cities study examines children's physical response to air acidity, while its predecessor targeted both adults and children, said Frank E. Spiezer, professor of environmental science and project head.

The study, started in 1987 while the Harvard team was still collecting data for the Six-Cities study, "was designed to monitor the air a year before we went to examine the children," said Speizer. This way, he said, the researchers could determine whether the levels of acid aerosols had any health effects.

The cities were divided into three groups and each group was monitored for a year, according to Speizer. The researchers will complete the data collection later this year, and will conduct data analysis for about one year.

Speizer emphasized that the cities involved "are not representative of the nation as a whole." The cities were picked because researchers had already suspected that they "would have high acid values," said Speizer.

The pollution problems in the areas studied come not from the cities themselves, however, but from power plants located "far away" from the cities, Speizer said.

"The results of this [24-Cities] study will lead to more questions which need to be answered," said Spiezer. In fact, the SPH is already involved in environmental studies in Mexico City, Beijing and Germany, said Dockery.