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Agenda. Environmental Health, Energy, and Transportation: Bringing Health to the Fuel Mixture

Sponsored by the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine
Nov 29-30, 2007
National Academy of Sciences
2100 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, D.C.

Goal:
This workshop addressed the potential environmental and public health consequences of transport fuel production and use. It focused on the unintended consequences of previous changes to fuel mixtures, and examine possibilities for new fuel sources and mixtures. The workshop explored the costs and benefits of potential fuel mixtures for the United States, with an emphasis on health, sustainability, environmental and public health consequences.

November 29, 2007

8:30 a.m. Welcome
The Honorable Paul G. Rogers, J.D.
Chair
Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine
Partner
Hogan & Hartson

8:40 a.m. Healthy People, Healthy Economy: Integrating Human Health and Emerging Alternative Fuels
Samuel Wilson, M.D.
Acting Director
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health


Session I: Relationships Between Transportation, Fuels, and Health

Session objectives:
Examine trade-offs in the creation of transportation energy policy.
Understand energy and transportation trends.
Understand the basics of fuel and engine development.
Review the health effects of traditional transport fuels.
Moderator: Sharon Hrynkow, Ph.D., Associate Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health

9:00 a.m. From the Ground through the Tailpipe: Fuel Requirements and Engine Parameters
Michael Wang, Ph.D.
Vehicle and Fuel Systems Analyst
Center for Transportation Research
Energy Systems Division
Argonne National Laboratories
 

9:30 a.m. The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2030
Scott Nauman
Manager of Economy and Energy
Corporate Planning Department
ExxonMobil


10:00 a.m. Health Effects of Transportation Fuels Throughout the Lifecycle
Tee L. Guidotti, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor
The George Washington University School of Medicine

10:30 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m. Understanding the Health Implications of Current and Potential Future Fuels: Approaches and What We Know Today
Daniel Greenbaum, M.C.P.
President
Health Effects Institute

11:15 a.m. Discussion
12:00 p.m. Lunch

Session IIa: Fuel Additives, Motor Vehicle Mechanics, and Health

Session objectives:
To learn which additives have been used in gasoline, and the politics in the progression from one additive to another
To understand the environmental health risks of different additives
To discuss alternatives to current aromatic fuel additives.

Moderator: Serap Erdal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division

12:45 p.m. Introduction to Fuel Additives
Serap Erdal, Ph.D.

12:55 p.m. A History of Fuel Development: Lead, MTBE, and Benzene
C. Boyden Gray, J.D.
US Ambassador to the EU


1:20 p.m. Fuels and Exposure: Is It Really the Fuels?
Douglas Lawson, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
Environmental Science & Health Impacts Program
National Renewable Energy Laboratory


1:45 p.m. Motor Vehicle Exhaust and Allergic Disease in a Birth Cohort
Grace LeMasters, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Environmental Health
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

2:10 p.m. Discussion

2:50 p.m. Break
Session IIb: Fuel Additives, Motor Vehicle Mechanics, and Health
Session objectives:
To learn which additives have been used in gasoline, and the politics in the progression from one additive to another
To understand the environmental health risks of different additives
To discuss alternatives to current aromatic fuel additives.
Moderator: John Spengler, Ph.D., M.S., Professor, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health

3:05 p.m. Welcome

3:10 p.m. MMT in Canadian Gasoline: Health and Environment Issues
Joseph Zayed, M.D.
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
University of Montreal

3:35 p.m. The European Ramazzini Foundation Project on Fuels, Their Constituents, Oxygenated Additives and Combustion Products
Fiorella Belpoggi, PhD
Vice Scientific Director
European Ramazzini Foundation for Oncology and Environmental Sciences

4:00 p.m. Transportation Fuels and Public Health
Howard Feldman, M.Sc.
Director
Regulatory Analysis and Scientific Affairs
American Petroleum Institute

4:25 p.m. Discussion
5:00 p.m. Adjourn
November 30, 2007

8:30 a.m. Welcome Back and Challenge to Workshop Participants
The Honorable Timothy E. Wirth
President
United Nations Foundation
Session III: Ethanol: Biofuels in the Mainstream

Session objectives:
Explore the potential of ethanol for fuel octane needs.
Explore the potential of ethanol as an alternative base fuel.
Compare different markets and production methods of ethanol.
Examine the health and environmental limitations of ethanol.
Moderator: Donna Perla, Senior Advisor, Office of Research & Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

8:50 a.m. Changing Fuels, Changing Emissions: Oxygenates and Other Factors
Don Lucas, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist
Advanced Energy Technologies Department
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

9:10 a.m. Perspectives on the Lifecycle Environmental Impacts of Ethanol Fuel
Susan Powers, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies
Clarkson University

9:45 a.m. Comparative Toxicity of Gasoline and Ethanol Vehicles
Paulo Saldiva, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Department of Pathology
University of São Paolo

10:05 a.m. The Effects on Health and Climate of Ethanol Versus Other Vehicle Technologies and Fuels
Mark Jacobson, Ph.D. (via teleconference)
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Stanford University

10:25 a.m. Discussion

10:45 a.m. Break
Session IV: Fuel Alternatives: Looking Beyond Fossil Fuels

Session objectives:
Compare and contrast different alternatives to fossil fuels
Consider sustainability in terms of economics, labor, and environment
Explore potential health costs and benefits of alternative fuels
Moderator: Howard Frumkin, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., Director, National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, CDC

11:00 a.m. Opening Comments

11:05 a.m. Health Assessment Needs of Some Next Generation Alternate Fuels
John Regalbuto, Ph.D.
Program Director
Catalysis and Biocatalysis
Directorate for Bioengineering
National Science Foundation

11:20 a.m. Making Healthy Energy Choices: Precautionary “Tails,” Undetected Faults
Paul Epstein, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Director
Center for Global Health and the Environment
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School


11:40 p.m. Biodiesel: From Fat to Fuel
Olof Hansen, M.S.
Environmental Protection Specialist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

12:00 p. m. Comprehensive Environmental Assessment: Lessons Learned from MTBE
J. Michael Davis, Ph.D.
Senior Science Advisor
National Center for Environmental Assessment
Environmental Protection Agency

12:20 p. m. Fuel Comparisons: Ethanol, Advanced Diesel, Hybrid, and Gasoline
John D. Graham, Ph.D.
Dean
The Pardee RAND Graduate School

12:45 p.m. Discussion

1:15 p.m. Lunch
Session V: The Global Picture

Session Objectives:
1. To examine the larger issues related to fuel decision-making
2. To review potential global and societal unintended consequences of different fuels
Moderator: Myron Harrison, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Health Advisor, Exxon Mobil Corporation
2:00 p.m. Global View of Biofuels
Melinda Kimble, M.P.A., M.A.
Senior Vice President
United Nations Foundation

2:25 p.m. Global Environment Health, Transportation, and Fuels
Carlos Dora, Ph.D.
Regional Advisor
European Centre for Environment and Health
World Health Organization

2:45 p.m. Discussion

3:00 p.m. Break

Panel Discussion: Criteria to Determine Potential Costs and Benefits of Fuels

3:15 p.m.
The moderator will lead a discussion with the panel members and the audience to identify:
1. What role does (or should) health play in energy decision-making of transportation fuels?
2. What are the research gaps to better elucidate the linkage of public health and transportation fuels?
3. With a current emphasis on alternative transportation fuels, what factors need to be considered to understand the impacts on health from the cradle to the grave?
4. Is there a need for more cross disciplinary research among engineers, toxicologists, epidemiologists, etc? What questions would these collaborations address?
5. How can health inform the decision-making policies of transportation fuels?
6. While most environmental health effects are local, what are the global challenges that need to be addressed?
Moderator: Lynn Goldman, M.D., M.S., M.P.H.
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Chair, Interdepartmental Program in Applied Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Vice-Chair, Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine
John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Environmental Health Program for Environmental Defense
Daniel Greenbaum, M.C.P., President, Health Effects Institute
Russell White, Ph.D., Manager of Health Sciences, American Petroleum Institute
Carlos Dora, Ph.D., World Health Organization European Centre for Environment and Health
Serap Erdal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division

Closing
4:45 p.m. Closing Comments
4:50 p.m. Adjourn
 

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