Conference summary: International Biomass Smoke Health Effects (IBSHE)

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the University of Montana’s Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) co-hosted a conference entitled “International Biomass Smoke and Health Effects” in Missoula, MT, on August 21 and 22, 2007. The goal of this conference was to bring together experts from diverse fields to review the state of the science in several key areas involving biomass smoke research, as well as identify future research directions. Researchers, physicians, and representatives from regulatory agencies from around the country and world met for a cross-disciplinary exploration of many issues related to biomass smoke research. Major topics of discussion included risk assessment, biomarkers of exposure, toxicology and animal study design, health outcomes measures/study design, and communications gaps. In addition to multiple presentations, breakout sessions were focused on identifying future research directions. In this issue of Inhalation Toxicology, we present the findings from each of these breakout sessions in an effort to summarize what is known in these key areas, and to identify those emerging issues in the field of biomass smoke research.

Keywords::

• Biomass
• conference summary
• health effects
• IBSHE
• woodsmoke

Acknowledgements

This conference was made possible through grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The conference was sponsored by the University of Montana CEHS (NCRR P20RR017670), the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.