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cc `\, RESEARCH 1995 RESEARCH AGENDA REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS

^ CENTER FOR INDOOR AIR RESEARCH 0 1995 RESEARCH AGENDA REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS am No

Mission Statement The mission of the Center for Indoor Air Research is to sponsor high quality research on indoor air issues and to facilitate communication of research findings to the broad scientific community. Science Advisory Board Members William S. Cain, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Surgery (Otolaryngology) University of California, San Diego Michael R. Guerin, Ph.D. Head, Organic Chemistry Section Analytical Chemistry Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Irving Kessler, M.D., Dr.P.H. Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine Morton Lippmann, Ph.D. Vice-Chairman, Department of Environmental Medicine New York University Medical Center Genevieve M. Matanoski, M.D., Dr.P.H. Professor, Department of Epidemiology Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health Demetrios Moschandreas, Ph.D. Professor, Pritzker Department of Environmental Engineering Illinois Institute of Technology Mark J. Utell, M.D. Professor, Medicine and Toxicology University of Rochester School of Medicine Alfred P. Wolf, Ph.D. Director, Cyclotron - PET Program Brookhaven National Laboratory James E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D., P.E. Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Studies Virginia Polytechnic Institute and. , State University ./

January, 1995 Dear Investigator: I am pleased to provide you the Center for Indoor Air Research's "Request for Applications" booklet. This package includes information about the Center, the research and review process, procedures for application, the contract man- agement process and the application forms. Also included is our Research Agenda which describes CIAR's research interests. Applications must be postmarked by June l st. Funding of awarded projects begins the following January lst. If you have additional questions concerning application procedures, please contact the Center at (410) 684-3777. - Thank you for your interest. Sincerely, Max Eisenberg, Ph.D. Executive Director

Table of Contents Research and Review Process ..................................................................................3 Research Agenda .................................................................................................... ...5 Application Process .................................................................................................10 Management of Research Contracts .......................................................................10 Contract Administration Policy ..............................................................................11 Application - General Information and Instructions .............................................12 Application Forms ..........................................................................................F1 - F3 Appendix A: CIAR Membership ...........................................................................15 Appendix B: CIAR Peer Reviewers .......................................................................17 Appendix C: CIAR Final Report Guidelines .........................................................23 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................24 ~

Center for Indoor Air Research The Center for Indoor Air Research (CIAR) is a non-profit corporation formed in March, 1988 to sponsor - high quality research on indoor air issues and to facilitate communication of research findings to the broad scien- tific community. The Center has three classes of mem- bership: charter members, regular members and associate members (See Appendix A). The charter members are those corporations that established the Center and are currently providing the majority of the funding. Regular and associate members are those per- sons or corporations that are interested in indoor air quality research but were not involved in the establishment of the Center. The regular members are represented on the Board of Directors while the associate members are not. The Center is actively seeking addi- tional members in both the regular and associate categories. Additional information on membership can be obtained by contacting the Center. The Center has established a Science Advisory Board (SAB) which develops the research agenda for approval by the Board of Directors. The SAB recommends proposals for funding after they have been peer reviewed by the Center's pool of peer reviewers. This structure ensures that only high quality research which will contribute to the knowledge bank on indoor air is recommended for funding. Research and Review Process The research agenda of the Center for Indoor Air Research is formulated by the Science Advisory Board (SAB), a multi-disciplinary group of individuals with reputations for expertise and scientific leadership in the disciplines relevant to indoor air research. The SAB seeks the best judgments of active research scientists as to what scientific information is missing in the various disciplines before independently ascertaining the research priorities of the Center. After the SAB establishes the researcv agenda, the Center announces to the scientific community at large that research applications in response to the agenda are being accepted. The review of proposals and their selection for funding is accomplished in a scientifically rigorous and objective manner. Applications are reviewed first for scientific quality by the appli- cant's peers selected from the group listed in Appendix B. The SAB, in turn, reviews the applications and peer evaluations, and develops recom- mendations on the selection of applications. Studies recommended by the SAB are subject to final approval by the Board of Directors. A staff scientist is assigned to each funded project to monitor the investi- gator's progress and to provide assis- tance to the investigators toward the successful completion of the project. When a project is completed, the investigator submits a draft final report which is reviewed by the Center for its scientific quality and soundness of conclusions. The investigator is encouraged to publish the work in an independent, peer reviewed journal for the benefit of the scientific community at large.

Request for Research Applications Introduction The Center for Indoor Air Research was established in 1988, as an inde- pendent, non-profit corporation. Its primary purpose is to sponsor scientific and technical research on the sources, transformation and fate of constituents affecting indoor air quality; on factors governing human exposure to, and retention of those constituents; on the effects of those constituents on health, including exposure-response relation- ships; and on methods of preventing or abating the concentrations of indoor air contaminants. The research program will be supplemented by periodic conference workshops and commissioned monographs. A Science Advisory Board has been assembled to assist in the formation and review of the research program. The Advisory Board consists of eminent scientists from a range of disciplines, including environmental engineering and monitoring, chemistry, toxicology, microbiology, epidemiology, behavioral sciences and biostatistics. The following research agenda was established at a Center for Indoor Air Research Science Advisory Board (SAB) Workshop. Research topics of major interest to the Center are described in the agenda. Individuals who intend to apply for funding are encouraged first to submit a letter of intent, two-to-three pages in leg ,gth, indicating the research objectives, key elements of the experimental design and methods, estimated time required and approximate direct and indirect cost. The letter should be addressed to: Center for Indoor Air Research 1099 Winterson Road, Suite 280 Linthicum, Maryland 21090

Research Agenda In the research agenda that follows, the Center's priorities and specific requests for application are presented. These represent the Center's best judgment on currently important research problems, but the agenda is by no means exhaustive. As stated in the Introduction, any proposal that is consistent with the Center's purpose will be considered. Our objective in presenting priorities and research topics is to stimulate researchers to focus on problems related to indoor air quality (IAQ). The research needs that follow are grouped according to sources investi- gations, exposure/ dose assessment, health effects, perception of IAQ, and engineering control strategies for IAQ. This collection of topics represents one general approach to indoor air quality research. Numerous indoor air contaminants warrant investigation in terms of their fate and transport in the indoor environment, the forms and quantities in which they present themselves to exposed indi- viduals, the dose actually delivered to a target (e.g., individual, organ, cell), strategies to reduce their levels, and the perception of indoor air quality in the presence and absence of the contam- inants. Some contaminants of interest are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and biological aerosols (aeroallergens and aeropathogens). CIAR does not plan to support research on asbestos and radon because other organizations already fund large efforts on these topics. Indoor air quality is "the nature of air that affects the health and well-being of occupants" where, according to the World Health Organization, "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". CIAR is interested in all relevant chemistry, physics, control strategies for, health effects caused or aggravated by, and psychosocial factors influencing the perception of indoor air quality. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of indoor air research, most projects will encompass more than one of these areas. CIAR, therefore, encourages interdepartmental collaborations and joint projects whenever they serve to enhance the interpretation and evalua- tion of results or to strengthen the validity of conclusions. Sources Myriad substances in indoor air have potential to affect health. The sources are many (e.g., outdoor air, people and their activities such as cooking, con- sumer products including pesticides, heating and cooling systems, building materials, electronic equipment) and distributions of sources and chemicals vary among indoor environments. For example, certain chemicals might be added to heating/cooling systems to exert a biocidal or preservative effect. The fate and effects of such known- source agents have not been studied extensively. Many constituents are being studied within risk assessment frameworks as toxicologically-signifi- cant compounds; however, much work remains to be done in characterizing distributions of various agents in specific environments related to sources and assessing their impact on human health.

CIAR is interested in creative proposals to: • Develop methods to characterize and quantify source emissions. Research in this area could include biologically-based means of source characterization and product screening, such as human irritation and odor assays, as well as development/ improvement of chemical analytical methods. • Investigate the transport and environmental fate of indoor air contaminants, particularly via sinks. This work will elucidate indoor air chemistry, and is important in deter- mining concentrations for short and long-term exposure estimates. • Develop and validate models to relate source emissions, fate, and transport. Numerous biological agents in indoor air may cause human disease. The most common biological agents found in indoor environments are bacteria, viruses, fungal spores, algae, arthropod fragments and droppings, and animal dander. Proliferation of microorganisms is dependent on moisture level and temperature. These requirements for growth are often provided by heating and air conditioning systems, and humidifiers. Research proposals are requested on the following: • Develop sampling methods amenable to standardization for the characteri- zation of microorganism concentra- tions in the indoor environment. • Characterize the size-segregated distribution of specific antigens in various indoor environments. Attention should be paid to factors influencing the distribution of the antigen in settled dust and as air- borne particles. The air in virtually all indoor environ- ments is a complex mixture of low levels of both reactive and unreactive species which may interact chemically or physically in a dynamic equilibrium between gaseous and particulate phas- es. The physical and chemical natures of the species themselves as well as those of the surrounding environment could affect the composition of the air to which an occupant is exposed. For example, does the presence of moisture lead to chemical reactions with indoor air constituents? How and to what extent do different types of building materials and surfaces influence the fate of indoor contaminants? •/ • Elucidate the dynamics of complex physico- chemical mixtures typical of indoor environments. Exposure Assessment/ Dosimetry The estimates of exposure and internal dose are critical factors in the reliability of studies to determine the health consequences of exposures. There are two critical issues in exposure-dose relationships: the effect of aerodynamic respiratory tract defenses in altering the quantity and distribution of the exposure to achieve a tissue dose, and measurement of actual internal dose. The complex particle-gas composition of indoor air contaminants has an important effect on the pulmonary distribution of the inhaled exposure. Measurements from site-specific and personal monitoring including biomarker measurements, are more reliable than self-reported history of exposure. In epidemiological studies, inaccurate reports of exposure history introduce misclassification bias. In field studies, the use of inaccurate estimates of exposure can lead to

variable, unreliable dose-response data. Appropriate modeling may esti- mate dose from exposure. Biomarkers can be useful in studying tissue injury and to determine dose from the low levels of exposure common indoors. Applications are requested for the following: • Clarify the relationship between exposure and dosimetry by conducting studies to improve the use of bio- markers together with exposure monitoring and health effects. This effort would involve improvements in pharmacokinetic modeling as well as methods development for exposure research. Particular areas in which there are limited data are: - personal monitoring in non-indus- trial occupations and in high risk groups; - time-activity profiles in exposure studies. • Develop unique, new biomarkers with the sensitivity and specificity to be useful in studying injury in both animals and humans. • Develop assays for detection of biological markers for exposure, effect, and susceptibility. • Investigate the use of polyclonal antibodies for screening in exposure- dose studies. • Develop and validate models to pre- dict dose and allow for extrapolation between animals and humans. Health Effects/Responses Low levels of airborne species may mediate lung injury by effects related to cumulative dose or long-term dose rather than peak dose. This concept is well-established for lead, where total dose is as important as dose pattern. Although there is growing agreement regarding the techniques used to measure indoor contaminants, there remains the problem of whether point or time-weighted measures are most meaningful. Given a specific indoor environment with a characterizable distribution of airborne substances, do measureable health effects relate to cumulative, chronic, low-level concentrations, to acute peak concen- trations, andJor to synergistic effects between substances? CIAR is interested in considering creative proposals to: L/ • Investigate the effects of long-term steady exposures to non-peak or low levels of indoor contaminants in order to determine whether or not realistic indoor levels of these chem- icals contribute to overall adverse health effects. While many chemical constituents have been identified in indoor air, little is known about the chemical changes that occur therein and the mechanisms by which they occur. The chemical fate of single species and their resulting impacts on health could vary greatly in different complex environments. For example, does the presence of an airborne contaminant or reaction intermediate alter the tissue dose and physiological responses to other indoor air contaminants? CIAR will consider creative proposals to: • Elucidate the health responses of interactive, low-level, complex exposures.