URBAN AEROSOL

Coordinator: Professor Mihalis Lazaridis, Technical University of Crete, Greece

Title: Characterisation of Urban Air Quality Indoor/Outdoor Particulate Matter Chemical Characteristics and Source-to-Inhaled Dose Relationships

Aim: To characterize particulate matter associated with human exposure in residential European urban areas and to develop exposure assessment databases and modelling tools for policy makers.

www: http://www.nilu.no/projects/urban-aerosol/

1. Problems to be solved

The research in the project addresses problems common to all European countries: indoor air quality, particulate matter (PM) concentrations in urban areas, influence on human exposure, and health risk from PM. The project will also contribute to the improvement of the quality of urban life and health through the improvement in scientific underpinning of air quality management. Furthermore, the project will add to the effort for preservation and enhancement of quality of the environment and will help air quality legislation that has as an ultimate goal to reduce the exposure of humans from toxic effects.

2. Scientific Objectives

2.1. To characterize chemically the particulate matter associated with actual human exposure in selected residential European urban areas.

2.2. To provide an integrated European exposure assessment database for urban PM characterization through indoor/outdoor monitoring and modelling to be used by policy makers for consideration in future Directives on air quality in Europe.

2.3. To study and evaluate the mechanisms controlling the outdoor/indoor relationships of PM by taking into account infiltration, meteorological conditions, indoor sources of PM, physical and chemical processes indoors, and the composition/size distribution of indoor-generated particulate matter, by using mechanistically based models.

2.4. To link human exposure to particulate matter indoor with physiologically based mechanistic dosimetry models.

3. Expected Impacts

The project results are expected to be integrated with air quality management systems used by decision makers and city/regional planners. Consequent benefits are improved decision making for EU citizens and the general benefit to the environment. Impacts to the house constructive companies, municipalities, public health institutes and the general public are also foreseen through the more effective house construction and understanding of the health impacts of particulate matter indoors. Finally, the project will contribute with a scientific understanding of air pollution to EU policy on air pollution and future Framework Directives.