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Dr. Allen S. Lefohn, President and Founder of A.S.L. & Associates, received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. under Professor George C. Pimentel, who was a great scientist and a great mentor. Dr. Pimentel encouraged his students to look beyond the obvious. In the spring, summer, and fall, Dr. Lefohn both runs and cycles. In the winter and spring, he is an avid skier - both alpine and cross country. When time permits, he is active on the amateur radio frequency (ham) bands with the call letters KA7M. |
Over the past 41 years, Dr. Lefohn's
research has involved the evaluation and assessment of ambient
air quality standards, reference levels, and critical levels
for several national and international governments; the development
of adjustment procedure (i.e., rollback) models for assessing
alternative scenarios for the United States and Canadian air
polluti
on
rulemaking processes; the analysis of air quality data for developing
exposure-response mathematical relationships for assessing the
effects of air pollutants on vegetation; the development of exposure/dose-response
relationships describing the effects of ozone and sulfur dioxide
on vegetation; the evaluation of the statistical methodology
associated with epidemiological studies relating air pollution
to human health effects; the evaluation of alternative forms
and levels of human-health standards; the development of hourly
exposure regimes for controlled human health laboratory studies;
the development and application of spatial interpolation techniques
for estimating seasonal ozone cumulative exposures; the characterization
of European and North American air quality and wet deposition
data for the purpose of assessing possible reasons for forest
decline; the development of field surveys to assess the effects
of sulfur dioxide on agricultural crops; and the analysis of
acidic deposition wetfall and effects data to better assess the
potential for biological effects.
Dr. Lefohn has focused his research
efforts on understanding (1) the quantification and relationship
between pollutant exposure and naturally occurring processes
and (2) the possible effects of air pollutants on human health
and on the ecosystem. He has extensive international experience
in the evaluation and assessment of ambient air quality 
standards, air quality objectives, and critical
levels. Some of his most recent activities involve developing
a mathematical relationship between ozone exposure and dose and
their effects on vegetation, better understanding the variability
of natural background ozone levels, designing the ambient-like
ozone exposure regimes for the major controlled laboratory human
health experiments (i.e., FEV1 experiments) currently being used
in the standard-setting process by US EPA, developing rollback
models for assessing alternative scenarios for the United States
and Canadian air pollution rulemaking processes, developing the
scientific rationale for explaining the "piston" effect,
which affects the ability to attain the 8-hour ozone standard,
and evaluating the possible effects of surface ozone on trees
in the southern Appalachian Mountains. In addition, he has focused
his attention on particulate matter and the strengths and weaknesses
of the current scientific database. In November 1998, he presented
his findings on the "piston" effect in a plenary session
at an international air pollution meeting in Beijing, China.
In 1999, a paper that summarizes the results of his effort in
directing an international research team to develop and apply
a protocol for assessing global estimates of sulfur emissions
from 1850 to 1990 was published in the peer-reviewed journal,
Atmospheric Environment. In December 1999, the sulfur
emissions work was featured on the Voice of America. The sulfur
emission estimates are used in global change models. In January
2000, Dr. Lefohn and his co-authors published a paper in Atmospheric
Environment relating ozone flux measurements with ozone concentrations
and the development of a possible ozone standard to protect vegetation.
In May 2001, Dr. Lefohn and his co-authors published an important
paper discussing background ozone and the importance of natural
processes in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Another
important paper characterizes the spatial variability of PM-2.5
24-hour average concentrations across several geographic areas
in the United States. The study results have been published in
the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association.
The study's results will help investigators define the magnitude
of the misclassification error associated with PM epidemiological
studies. In 2006, his papers focused on surface ozone trands
in remote monitoring sites across the world and a critical review
of exposure- and dose-based indices for assessing ozone vegetation
effects. In 2007, Dr. Lefohn's paper with Dr. Milan Hazucha of
the University of North Carolina describes results from
controlled laboratory exposures of human volunteers that indicate
that higher ozone hourly average concentrations elicit a greater
effect on hour-by-hour physiologic response than lower hourly
average values, which implies a nonlinear dose-response relationship.
As indicated in the paper, the current 8-h average human health
ozone standard is not adequate for describing this nonlinear
hour-by-hour pattern of response. In 2008, Dr. Lefohn's papers
focused on policy-relevant background ozone levels entering the
west coast of the United States and characterizing long-term
changes in surface ozone levels in the United States. In 2009,
Dr. Lefohn's papers dealt with explaining the biological reasons
for the nonlinear relationship between vegetation responses to
ozone and exposure and dose. For specific information concerning
these papers, please visit the publications
section of this web site. In addition, to learn more about the
trends analyses, please click
here.
The biologically based W126 cumulative exposure index developed by Dr. Lefohn in 1985 was recommended by EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) in August 2006 and in January 2007 by EPA Staff to the Administrator as a possible ozone standard to protect vegetation. In June 2007, the EPA Administrator proposed the W126 exposure index as the secondary ozone standard. On March 12, 2008, the EPA Administrator made the final decision to revise the 8-hour "primary" ozone standard, designed to protect public health, to a level of 0.075 parts per million (ppm). The vegetation standard was set at the same level as the human-health related 8-hour ozone standard. In May 27, 2008, health and environmental organizations filed a lawsuit arguing that the EPA failed to protect public health and the environment when it issued in March 2008 new ozone standards. On March 10, 2009, the US EPA requested that the Court vacate the existing briefing schedule and hold the consolidated cases in abeyance. EPA requested the extension to allow time for appropriate EPA officials to review the Ozone NAAQS Rule to determine whether the standards established in the Ozone NAAQS Rule should be maintained, modified, or otherwise reconsidered. On September 16, 2009, the EPA announced it would reconsider the 2008 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone for both human health and environmental effects. The Agency planned to propose any needed revisions to the ozone standards by December 2009 and issue a final decision by August 2010. In January 2010, the EPA announced its proposal to strengthen the national ambient air quality standards for ground-level ozone. The EPA's proposal decreases the 8-hour “primary” ozone standard level, designed to protect public health, to a level within the range of 0.060-0.070 parts per million (ppm). EPA is also proposing to establish a distinct cumulative, seasonal “secondary” standard, referred to as the W126 index, which is designed to protect sensitive vegetation and ecosystems, including forests, parks, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. EPA is proposing to set the level of the W126 secondary standard within the range of 7-15 ppm-hours. The proposed revisions result from a reconsideration of the identical primary and secondary ozone standards set at 0.075 ppm in March 2008. The EPA will announce its decision in August 2010.
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In 1996, he was the lead author of Chapter 4 (Environmental Concentrations, Patterns, and Exposure Estimates) of the U.S. EPA Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants, as well as a co-author of the exposure-response indices section in Chapter 5 (Environmental Effects of Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants). These documents formed the scientific support for the U.S. EPA's surface ozone standards to protect human health (primary) and vegetation (secondary). In the 2002-06 ozone review process, Dr. Lefohn co-authored sections in the Ozone Criteria Document that focused on vegetation |
exposure-/dose-response, air quality characterization, and background ozone. In 1993, Dr. Lefohn participated in a UN-ECE Workshop on Critical Levels for Ozone held in Bern, Switzerland, where he was invited to be one of the keynote presenters. In November 2005, he was invited to present a keynote paper (co-authored with Dr. Robert Musselman) "The Strengths and Weaknesses of Exposure- and Flux-Based Ozone Indices for Predicting Vegetation Effects" at the Critical Levels of Ozone Workshop held in Obergurgl, Tyrol, Austria.
In 1991, he was chairman of the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Meeting of Experts to evaluate surface-level ozone exposures and trends at remote locations in the world. In 1989, he was the lead author of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) State-of-Science Report No. 7: Air Quality Measurements and Characterizations for Vegetation Effects Research.
His past responsibilities have included his participation as senior researcher for the EPA's National Crop Loss Assessment Network (NCLAN). In this capacity, he was responsible for characterizing ambient air quality data and comparing the information with data collected under experimental conditions.
Dr. Lefohn has published over 150
peer-reviewed papers and technical reports, 
edited four books, presented oral papers, and
participated in a number of television and radio interviews and
international panel presentations. A sampling of his publications is available.
For 11 years, he served as an Executive Editor of the prestigious
scientific journal Atmospheric Environment. While continuing
to actively perform his research, he also serves an Adjunct Instructor
of Environmental Engineering at Montana Tech in Butte, Montana.
He served for several years on the University of California at
Davis' Science Advisory Committee for the Center for Ecological
Health Research. For several years he served as chairman of the
Advisory Committee. Besides focusing on his research activities,
he is actively involved in developing creative
web pages for communicating with the
general public. The focus of his design efforts is on developing
and implementing strategies for the efficient transfer of quality
information over the Internet. His web pages are well known for
their creative appearance and innovative use of streaming audio
and video. In the past, he has served as the volunteer webmaster
for the Myrna
Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts
and Artisan
Dance group.
In May 2002, the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts in Helena, Montana, awarded the Heart of Myrna Loy Award to Dr. Lefohn. Dr. Lefohn was recognized as a primary volunteer across several years helping the Myrna Loy Center to regain its footing and to renew its many performing arts programs. He did this as a Board member working on helping the organization to do a critical analysis. Most importantly, Dr. Lefohn was acknowledged as providing great service by creating in the Spring of 2000 the Myrna Loy Center web site, www.myrnaloycenter.com. His guidance has turned the web site into a powerful marketing tool and the site has seen an increase in traffic that has dramatically climbed since May of 2000.
Dr. Lefohn has two sons, Kevin and Aaron. Kevin is a professional, performing violinist, who is the Artistic Administrator of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. He and his wife, Milyn, live in New Zealand. Milyn has her Bachelor of Midwifery and is a practicing midwife. Aaron has a Ph.D. in computer science and is a computer graphics and parallel programming architect and researcher. He is currently a Senior Graphics Architect at Intel. He was previously a Principal Engineer at Neoptica, a computer graphics startup acquired by Intel in October 2007. Prior to that experience, he was a researcher and software engineer at Pixar Animation Studios. He and his wife, Karen, live in the Seattle, Washington area. Karen has a B.S. in apparel design. Dr. Lefohn lives in peaceful Montana with his lovely wife (who teaches Qigong). Both are avid professional photographers who continuously donate their talents to the arts. A sampling of their work can be found in the Multimedia Center web page, photography of ballet contribution, and the Myrna Loy Center's Gallery of Photography. Their photography work has been featured across the United States and New Zealand and their creative efforts are well recognized in both local and national arts communities. Many of their photographs have been published in newspapers and national arts magazines. Dr. Lefohn is the creative arts photographer for the Helena Symphony Orchestra and Artisan Dance, a professional dance company, and was invited to photograph the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand. A set of his photographs was published in Symphony magazine, a publication produced by the League of American Orchestras. Dr. Lefohn and his wife desire to make the world, through the arts, a much better place in which to live.
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