"On 30 June, however, the facility shut its doors after the US government refused to renew its long-standing lease with the university. This is a significant loss, and comes at a crucial moment for respiratory health, says Robert Devlin, a former senior EPA scientist who worked at the lab throughout its 30-year run. Without the facility, Devlin says, there will be no way to find out whether current air-quality standards are safe and protective. "We'll no longer be able to answer the question.""
"An EPA spokesperson declined to answer Nature's questions and instead stated that "all of the functions from this lab are in the process of or have been transferred" to another EPA facility in nearby Research Triangle Park, and that Nature 's sources "seem to be grossly misinformed". Devlin says that such a move is impossible. The facility's exposure chambers alone occupy around 1,860 square metres and require specialized engineers to maintain."
The Human Studies Facility at UNC Chapel Hill operated for 30 years under the US EPA, using nine human exposure chambers to establish causal links between pollutants and respiratory health outcomes. Its findings informed air-pollution policy domestically and internationally and supported reductions in pollution-related mortality. The facility closed on 30 June after the US government declined to renew the university lease. An EPA spokesperson asserted that functions were transferred to another EPA site, but former EPA scientists contend the chambers and specialized engineering are unique and cannot be moved. The closure removes a centralized capability to directly test whether current air-quality standards remain protective.
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