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George D. Thurston

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George D. Thurston

Professor;
Department of Environmental Medicine

Contact Info

Address
57 Old Forge Road
NYU Institute of Environmental Medicine Floor , gdt1@nyu.edu
Sterling Forest
Tuxedo, NY 10987

Phone: 845-731-3564
Fax: 845-351-5472
Email: George.Thurston@nyumc.org

Web:	U.S. Senate testimony about the human health effects of air pollution New York Times Editorial based on Dr. Thurstons's Backpack Study in the South Bronx The NYU Marron Institute, where Professor Thurston is Affiliated Faculty

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Education

1976-1982 — Dr. Thurston received his Sc.D. from Harvard University School of Public Health|, Graduate Education
1982-1984 — Dr. Thurston was a Research Fellow at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government's Energy and Environmental Policy Center, PostDoctoral Training

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Research Summary

Professor Thurston is Director of the Program in Exposure Assessment and Human Health Effects at the Department of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, and is a leading scholar on the human health effects of air pollution. His research has focused on health effects of air pollution in New York City, as well as in cities across the nation and around the world. In New York City, this has included his Backpack Study of the effect of diesel air pollution on children with asthma in the South Bronx. His research and collaborations in cities around the globe has included a study of the effects of industrial air pollution among children in Cubatao, Brazil. He was also an author of the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report, published in the Lancet in 2012, which provided global estimates of the life years lost due to outdoor fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5), which were based in large measure on Dr. Thurston?s ACS cohort studies of PM2.5 air pollution and mortality, and his leading-edge collaborative research in which global PM2.5 concentrations were estimated based on global satellite data. Dr. Thurston has also been a leader in advancing the intersection of science and public policy decision-making. He has been called upon to testify before the US Senate and the House of Representatives on dozens of occasions to explain the public policy implications of air pollution research, most recently in October 2011 regarding the proposed mercury emission regulations. In 1999, he spoke at the Community of Parties (COP5) Kyoto Protocol meeting held in Bonn, Germany regarding his research on the immediate human health co-benefits of climate change mitigation steps from associated cleaner air quality. In 2002, he was called upon to testify before the Senate on the human health effects associated with the Word Trade Center disaster, in which he took a leadership role in collecting air pollution samples independent of the government, and in directly sharing that information with the community through public forums led by him at NYU and in Lower Manhattan. He has also served as a member of the U.S. EPA Clean Air Science Advisory Council (CASAC) that advises the EPA Administrator on the setting of the U.S. air quality standards, and has served on a National Academy of Science advisory committee on the environmental aspects of Waste Incineration. As a result of these activities, he has been frequently interviewed by the networks and the press, most recently on CNN International regarding the increasing problem of air pollution in Beijing, China. He has provided consistent leadership in his scientific organizations, and his research has been honored for its excellence by the scientific community. In May 2003, he organized and hosted the U.S. EPA supported international meeting: Workshop on the Source Apportionment of PM Health Effects. In 2004, he co-hosted the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology annual meeting, held at the NYU Kimmel Center in Washington Square. In 2012, Dr. Thurston was awarded the prestigious Haagen Smit Prize by the scientific journal Atmospheric Environment.

Research Interests

Human Health Effects of Exposures to Air Pollutants

Research Keywords

Cardiac, respiratory, and cancer human health effects of air pollution, sustainability, climate change co-benefits

Research Documents

NYUSOM Bronx Backpack Study Final EPA Report

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All data from NYU Health Sciences Library Faculty Bibliography — -

Contact:
http://hsl.med.nyu.edu/faculty-bibliography-search

Corrigendum to "A source apportionment of U.S. fine particulate matter air pollution" [Atmos. Environ. 45/24 (2011) 3924-3936]
Thurston G.D.; Ito K.; Lall R.
2012 ;47:566-569, Atmospheric environment (Oxford)
— id: 148743, year: 2012, vol: 47, page: 566, stat: Journal Article,

Ischemic Heart Disease Mortality Associations with Long-Term Exposure to PM2.5 Components
Thurston, G; Burnett, R; Krewski, D; Shi, YL; Turner, M; Ito, K; Lall, R; Jerrett, M; Calle, E; Tunne, M; Pope, CA
2009 NOV ;20(6):S80-S81, Epidemiology
— id: 106446, year: 2009, vol: 20, page: S80, stat: Journal Article,

Diesel Air Pollution and Asthma Exacerbations in a Group of Children with Asthma
Spira-Cohen, A; Chen, L; Kendall, M; Xillari, D; Clemente, J; Blaustein, M; Gorzcynski, J; Thurston, GD
2008 NOV ;19(6):S339-S339, Epidemiology
— id: 98113, year: 2008, vol: 19, page: S339, stat: Journal Article,

Air pollution and health: indoor air pollution in the developing world is the real key to reducing the burden of ill health - Reply
Thurston, GD
2008 MAR ;63(3):288-288, Thorax
— id: 87121, year: 2008, vol: 63, page: 288, stat: Journal Article,

Characterization of PM2.5, gaseous pollutants, and meteorological interactions in the context of time-series health effects models
Ito, Kazuhiko; Thurston, George D; Silverman, Robert A
2007 Dec;17 Suppl 2:S45-S60, Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology
— id: 78017, year: 2007, vol: 17 Suppl 2, page: S45, stat: Journal Article,

Panel discussion review: session two--interpretation of observed associations between multiple ambient air pollutants and health effects in epidemiologic analyses
Kim, Jee Young; Burnett, Richard T; Neas, Lucas; Thurston, George D; Schwartz, Joel; Tolbert, Paige E; Brunekreef, Bert; Goldberg, Mark S; Romieu, Isabelle
2007 Dec;17 Suppl 2:S83-S89, Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology
— id: 96453, year: 2007, vol: 17 Suppl 2, page: S83, stat: Journal Article,

Applying attributable risk methods to identify susceptible subpopulations
Thurston, G
2007 SEP ;18(5):S191-S191, Epidemiology
— id: 74337, year: 2007, vol: 18, page: S191, stat: Journal Article,

Air pollution : outdoor and indoor sources
Thurston, George D
Environmental and occupational medicine Philadelphia : Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007,
— id: 5375, year: 2007, vol: , page: ?, stat: Chapter,

Is airborne acid an important cause of health effects?
Chen LC; Thurston GD; Schlesinger RB
Air pollution and health London : Imperial College Press, 2006,
— id: 4291, year: 2006, vol: , page: ?, stat: Chapter,

Impact of local and transported PM2.5 on elderly hospital admissions in New York City
Lall, R; Ito, K; Thurston, G
2006 NOV ;17(6):S201-S201, Epidemiology
— id: 71047, year: 2006, vol: 17, page: S201, stat: Journal Article,

Asthma hospital admissions and ambient air pollution concentrations in New York City
Restrepo, C; Simonoff, J; Thurston, G; Zimmerman, R
2006 NOV ;17(6):S266-S266, Epidemiology
— id: 71050, year: 2006, vol: 17, page: S266, stat: Journal Article,

A source apportionment of US fine particulate matter pollution for health effects analysis
Thurston, G; Lall, R
2006 NOV ;17(6):S271-S271, Epidemiology
— id: 71051, year: 2006, vol: 17, page: S271, stat: Journal Article,

Hospital admissions and fine particulate air pollution
Thurston, George D
2006 Oct 25;296(16):1966; author reply 1966-1966; author reply 1967, JAMA
— id: 72112, year: 2006, vol: 296, page: 1966; author reply 1966, stat: Journal Article,

Monitor-to-monitor temporal correlation of air pollution in the contiguous US
Ito, Kazuhiko; De Leon, Samantha; Thurston, George D; Nadas, Arthur; Lippmann, Morton
2005 Mar;15(2):172-184, Journal of exposure analysis & environmental epidemiology
— id: 48192, year: 2005, vol: 15, page: 172, stat: Journal Article,

Results and implications of the workshop on the source apportionment of PM health effects
Thurston, G; Ito, K; Mar, T; Christensen, WF; Eatough, DJ; Henry, RC; Kim, E; Laden, F; Lall, R; Larson, TV; Liu, H; Neas, L; Pinto, J; Stolzel, M; Suh, H; Hopke, PK
2005 SEP ;16(5):S134-S135, Epidemiology
— id: 58748, year: 2005, vol: 16, page: S134, stat: Journal Article,

The association between ambient PM2.5 and biomarkers of airway inflammation in patients with asthma
De Leon, S; Ito, K; Hsu, HW; Reibman, J; Thurston, G
2004 JUL ;15(4):S24-S25, Epidemiology
— id: 47199, year: 2004, vol: 15, page: S24, stat: Journal Article,

Association between fine particles and respiratory/cardiovascular elderly hospital admisisons in New York City
Ito, K; De Leon, S; Thurston, G
2004 JUL ;15(4):S25-S25, Epidemiology
— id: 47200, year: 2004, vol: 15, page: S25, stat: Journal Article,

Ambient pollutant concentrations measured by a mobile laboratory in South Bronx, NY
Maciejczyk, PB; Offenberg, JH; Clemente, J; Blaustein, M; Thurston, GD; Chen, LC
2004 OCT ;38(31):5283-5294, Atmospheric environment (Oxford)
— id: 46493, year: 2004, vol: 38, page: 5283, stat: Journal Article,

Vascular endothelial growth factor blockade reduces serum cytokines in a murine model of polymicrobial sepsis
Nolan A; Thurston G; Weiden MD; Gold JA
2004 ;169:A118-A118, American journal of respiratory & critical care medicine
— id: 101400, year: 2004, vol: 169, page: A118, stat: Journal Article,

Cardiovascular mortality and long-term exposure to particulate air pollution: epidemiological evidence of general pathophysiological pathways of disease
Pope, C Arden 3rd; Burnett, Richard T; Thurston, George D; Thun, Michael J; Calle, Eugenia E; Krewski, Daniel; Godleski, John J
2004 Jan 6;109(1):71-77, Circulation
— id: 48174, year: 2004, vol: 109, page: 71, stat: Journal Article,

Contribution of respiratory disease to nonrespiratory mortality associations with air pollution
De Leon, Samantha F; Thurston, George D; Ito, Kazuhiko
2003 Apr 15;167(8):1117-1123, American journal of respiratory & critical care medicine
— id: 34507, year: 2003, vol: 167, page: 1117, stat: Journal Article,

Contribution of respiratory disease to nonrespiratory mortality associations with air pollution
Leon, S. F. de; Thurston, G. D.; Ito, K.
2003 ;167(8):1117-1123, American review of respiratory disease
— id: 98786, year: 2003, vol: 167, page: 1117, stat: Journal Article,

Pollution-related mortality and educational level - Reply
Pope, CA; Burnett, RT; Thurston, GD
2002 Aug 21;288(7):830-830, JAMA
— id: 32383, year: 2002, vol: 288, page: 830, stat: Journal Article,

Mitigating GHGs in developing countries - Response
Cifuentes, L; Borja-Aburto, VH; Gouveia, N; Thurston, G; Davis, DL
2001 SEP 28 ;293(5539):2391-2392, Science
— id: 54888, year: 2001, vol: 293, page: 2391, stat: Journal Article,

Monitor-to-monitor temporal correlation of air pollution and weather variables in the North-Central U.S
Ito K; Thurston GD; Nadas A; Lippmann M
2001 Jan-Feb;11(1):21-32, Journal of exposure analysis & environmental epidemiology
— id: 18507, year: 2001, vol: 11, page: 21, stat: Journal Article,

Daily particulate matter and peak flow changes in urban adults with asthma (R827351C001)
Ito, K; Thurston, G; Puri, A; Cassino, C; Rogers, L; Argiriardi, P; Foo, F; Reibman, J
2000 ;161:A309-A309, American journal of respiratory & critical care medicine
— id: 337022, year: 2000, vol: 161, page: A309, stat: Journal Article,

Determinants of endothelial cell phenotype in venules
Thurston G; Baluk P; McDonald DM
2000 Feb;7(1):67-80, Microcirculation
— id: 34512, year: 2000, vol: 7, page: 67, stat: Journal Article,

PM constitutent roles in mass associations with health effects in Philadelphia, PA
Thurston, G; Ito, K; Lall, R; Norris, G; Landis, M; Wilson, W
2000 JUL ;11(4):S116-S116, Epidemiology
— id: 54536, year: 2000, vol: 11, page: S116, stat: Journal Article,

Cigarette smoking and ozone-associated emergency department use for asthma by adults in New York City
Cassino C; Ito K; Bader I; Ciotoli C; Thurston G; Reibman J
1999 Jun;159(6):1773-1779, American journal of respiratory & critical care medicine
— id: 6126, year: 1999, vol: 159, page: 1773, stat: Journal Article,

Personal exposure to PM of outdoor and indoor origin
Lippmann, M; Thurston, GD; Ito, K; Reibman, J; Xue, N; Heikkinen, M
1999 JUL ;10(4):140O-910, Epidemiology
— id: 98319, year: 1999, vol: 10, page: 140O, stat: Journal Article,

A critical review of PM10-mortality time-series studies
Thurston GD
1996 Jan-Mar;6(1):3-21, Journal of exposure analysis & environmental epidemiology
— id: 12687, year: 1996, vol: 6, page: 3, stat: Journal Article,

AIR-POLLUTION EPIDEMIOLOGY - CONSIDERATIONS IN TIME-SERIES MODELING
THURSTON, GD; KINNEY, PL
1995 JAN-FEB ;7(1):71-83, Inhalation toxicology
— id: 87455, year: 1995, vol: 7, page: 71, stat: Journal Article,

MEASUREMENTS OF SULFATE AEROSOL AND ITS ACIDITY IN THE SO2 SOURCE REGION OF CHESTNUT-RIDGE, PA
Waldman, JM; Liang, SKC; Lioy, PJ; Thurston, GD; Lippmann, M
1991 Jun;25(7):1327-1333, Atmospheric environment. Pt. B. Urban atmosphere
— id: 32178, year: 1991, vol: 25, page: 1327, stat: Journal Article,

Characterization and reconstruction of historical London, England, acidic aerosol concentrations
Ito K; Thurston GD
1989 Feb;79:35-42, Environmental health perspectives
— id: 10734, year: 1989, vol: 79, page: 35, stat: Journal Article,

AN AUTOMATED SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING SYSTEM FOR PARTICULATE ACID AEROSOLS
THURSTON, GD; GORCZYNSKI, JE
1989 SEP 10 ;198(2):1-ENVR, Abstracts of papers (American Chemical Society)
— id: 98502, year: 1989, vol: 198, page: 1, stat: Journal Article,

Effects of ambient ozone on respiratory function in active, normal children
Spektor DM; Lippmann M; Lioy PJ; Thurston GD; Citak K; James DJ; Bock N; Speizer FE; Hayes C
1988 Feb;137(2):313-320, American review of respiratory disease
— id: 11188, year: 1988, vol: 137, page: 313, stat: Journal Article,

EXPOSURE MONITORING FOR ATMOSPHERIC ACIDIC AEROSOLS
Lioy, PJ; Thurston, GD; Lippmann, M
1985 ;190(SEP):59-, Abstracts of papers (American Chemical Society)
— id: 30849, year: 1985, vol: 190, page: 59, stat: Journal Article,

Consideration of risk analysis in the revision of the primary standards for ambient particles
Ozkaynak, Haluk; Spengler, John D; Thurston, George D.
Case studies in risk assessment and management [S.l.] : Air Pollution Control Association, 1985,
— id: 4282, year: 1985, vol: , page: ?, stat: Chapter,

Tracing Aerosol Pollution
Thurston GD; Laird NM
1985 Mar 22;227(4693):1406-1407, Science
— id: 96454, year: 1985, vol: 227, page: 1406, stat: Journal Article,

A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF SOURCE CONTRIBUTIONS TO INHALABLE PARTICULATE MATTER POLLUTION IN METROPOLITAN BOSTON
THURSTON, GD; SPENGLER, JD
1985 JAN 20 ;19(1):9-25, Atmospheric environment (Oxford)
— id: 98580, year: 1985, vol: 19, page: 9, stat: Journal Article,

A source apportionment of particulate air pollution in metropolitan Boston
Thurston, George D
[S.l. : s.n.], 1983,
— id: 1231, year: 1983, vol: , page: , stat: ,

Source contributions to inhalable particulate matter in Metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts
Thurston, George D; Spengler, John D
New Orleans : Air Pollution Control Association, 1982,
— id: 1230, year: 1982, vol: , page: , stat: ,