ARIES is a large ($9 million) air pollution epidemiology study being carried out inAtlanta, Georgia. It is ground-breaking in its extensive air quality characterization and depth and breadth of accompanying health studies. The objective of ARIES is to investigate associations between specific air quality parameters and human health so that we may better understand the causative components in the air pollution mixture.

ARIES is a multi-faceted study in which the disciplines of atmospheric science, epidemiology, and exposure assessment are brought together to answer key questions about air pollution and health (see schematic below). ARIES consists of an air quality monitoring effort coupled with five parallel health studies. The monitoring is unprecedented in its range of potentially hazardous air pollution components, including specific particulate matter (PM) components (e.g., sulfate, nitrate, carbon-containing materials), gaseous pollutants (e.g., ozone, carbon monoxide, SO₂, volatile organic compounds), and aeroallergens (e.g., pollen, spores). The comprehensive sampling approach enables a more robust and explicit investigation of the relationship between human health and airborne pollutants. ARIES is also unique in that it includes multiple epidemiological studies investigating similar health endpoints in the same study population, thus allowing for consistency testing. For example, we see fairly consistent associations between carbon monoxide and cardiovascular endpoints across studies, whereas for the respiratory endpoints, results are more mixed. To preclude "data mining" to support preconceived ideas, the primary analyses were conducted using a priori models based on a review of the literature as to what was most supportable at the time.

ARIES has been cited by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as an archetype of air pollution studies. We encourage other investigators to undertake studies of this type in order to increase our knowledge about the linkages between air pollution and human health.