Dr. Arthur M. Winer is Distinguished Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and a core faculty member in the UCLA Environmental Science and Engineering Program, of which he was the Director between 1989 and 1997.  Dr. Winer is an atmospheric chemist who has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on a wide range of atmospheric chemistry, air pollution and exposure assessment topics over the past thirty five years.

Current Research

Professor Winer's research program focuses primarily on experimental and modeling studies concerned with air pollutant exposure assessment, with an emphasis on children's exposure to toxic air contaminants, including diesel exhaust.  Recent and current field studies involve measurements in several microenvironments important for children’s exposure, including residential homes, portable classrooms and diesel school buses.  His research group participated in the multi-center study on the relationship between indoor, outdoor and personal air (RIOPA), a case-control experiment examining the influence of freeway traffic emissions and other pollutant sources on levels of PM2.5, air toxics and aldehydes experienced by nearby residents.  In a pilot study, ahead of a much larger state study, measurements of toxic air contaminants and ventilation rates in portable classrooms were conducted in southern and northern California, and results from this study have been published in papers cited below.

With support from the California Air Resources Board (ARB), the U.S. EPA and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Professor Winer's group investigated the variables which are most important in determining the exposure of children to diesel exhaust particulates and other vehicle-related pollutants during long bus commutes.  In this collaboration with the UCR CE-CERT, a range of real-time instruments were employed to measure particles and gases in school bus cabins, as well at loading/unloading zones and at bus stops.  Using an inert tracer gas, it was demonstrated for the first time that a bus’s own exhaust, or “self-pollution,” is an important route of exposure for high-emitting diesel school buses.  A second UCLA/CE-CERT study investigated the mechanisms of exhaust intrusion into school buses with the goal of identifying practical remediation measures to reduce children’s exposure.  The overarching goal of all of these field-based research projects is to more accurately characterize air pollutant exposure in critical microenvironments, rather than relying on data from a handful of fixed-site outdoor air monitors.

In addition to these field studies, an individual human exposure model (IEM) was developed and applied to the USC Children's Health Study cohort, and a third generation version of the Regional Human Exposure (REHEX) model was developed for population-based exposure assessment.  One objective of research with the IEM was to quantify intra-community variability in exposures of the CHS children to vehicle-related pollutants, and to facilitate evaluation of the relationships between exposure and health outcomes for individual children.  The IEM was also used to study the influence of emissions from heavily traveled arterials on exposure of nearby residents; and to investigate issues of environmental equity with respect to vehicle-related air pollutant exposure of diverse inner city populations.  In a recent collaborative study with UC Irvine epidemiologist Ralph Delfino the exposure of southern California residents to airborne particulates from the 2003 wild fires was modeled, and these exposure metrics were matched against data on hospitals admissions for respiratory illness compiled by the UCI investigators.

Continuing a long-term interest in characterizing novel aspects of vehicle exhaust and emission control systems, Professor Winer's students continue to participate in several studies at the ARB’s Haagen-Smit Laboratory.  Among these was a project to generate statistically robust data on emissions of nitrous oxide, a key greenhouse gas, and ammonia in the California vehicle fleet.  This investigation included dynamometer testing of in-use gasoline vehicles and its results have been used to generate a more accurate emission inventory for nitrous oxide, as well as to characterize the effects of catalyst composition and aging on nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions.  Other projects based at the ARB laboratory are to investigate whether passive diesel particulate filters are a feasible control measure for solid waste collection vehicles in California, and to study the emission reduction benefits of upgrading the exhaust emission control systems for in-use gasoline vehicles in California.

Current studies include an investigation of the role of resuspension and deposition of large particles in the transport of toxic air contaminants, and an investigation of pollution concentration gradients in Wilmington, CA using an instrumented mobile platform.

Recent Publications
(Selected from more than 180 peer-reviewed journal articles)

Houston, D., M. Krudysz, and A. M. Winer, 2008. Diesel Truck Traffic in Port-Adjacent Low-Income and Minority Communities; Environmental Justice Implications of Near- Roadway Land Use Conflicts. J. Transp. Research Board, In Press.

Wu, J., A. M. Winer and R. J. Delfino. 2006. Exposure Assessment of Particulate Matter Air Pollution Before, During and After the 2003 Southern California Wildfires. Atmospheric Environment, 40: 3333-3348.

Houston, D., P. Ong, J. Wu, and A. M. Winer. 2006. Proximity of Licensed Childcare to Busy Roads in California: Implications for Vehicle-Related Pollutant Exposure. American Journal of Public Health, 96: 611-619.

Sabin, L. D., E. Behrentz, A. M. Winer, S. J. Lee, D. R. Fitz, D. V. Pankratz, S. D. Colome and S. A. Fruin. 2005. Characterizing the Range of Children’s Air Pollutant Exposure During School Bus Commutes. J. Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 15: 377-387.

Behrentz, E., R. Ling, P. Rieger and A. M. Winer. 2004. Measurements of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Light-Duty Motor Vehicles. Atmospheric Environment, 38: 4291-4303.

Fruin, S. A., A. M. Winer and C. E. Rodes. 2004. Black Carbon Concentrations in California Vehicles and Estimation of In-Vehicle Diesel Exhaust Particulate Matter. Atmospheric Environment, 38: 4123-4133.

Behrentz, E., D. R. Fitz, D. V. Pankratz, L. D. Sabin, S. D. Colome, S. Fruin and A. M. Winer. 2004. Measuring Self-Pollution in School Buses Using a Tracer Gas Technique. Atmospheric Environment, 38, 3735-3746.

Current Courses

Biosketch

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