Trends in population exposure to particulate matter in urban areas of Greece during the last decade

- A methodology for assessing population exposure to particulate matter (PM) has been applied.
- Population exposure trends in urban areas have been evaluated.
- Spatial distribution trends of population exposure have been derived.
- Population exposure is a complex function of PM ambient concentrations and spatiotemporal emission characteristics.
- Population exposed to PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations above the annual air quality standards, has dropped significantly in the period 2001 - 2010.

Assessment of population exposure is very important for the evaluation of the adverse health effects of particulate matter (PM) ambient levels. In this work population exposure to PM10 and PM2.5 has been evaluated in outdoor environments in the Athens (AMA) and Thessaloniki (TMA) metropolitan areas during the period 2001-2010. The methodology used is based on combining spatiotemporally allocated PM10 and PM2.5 concentration fields with the geographical distribution of population. The results showed that the number of people living in the AMA exposed to PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations above the annual air quality standards (AQS), has dropped 18% since 2001 and 98% since 2008, respectively. Likewise, in 2010 8% less, compared to 2001, of the AMA population lived in areas where the daily AQS for PM10 was exceeded > 35 times a year. The results as regards TMA indicated a decrease in the number of people exposed to PM10 concentrations over the annual AQS value (78% decrease). However, the number of people living in areas with PM10 concentrations over the daily AQS for > 35 times in a year doubled since 2001. Finally, the spatial distribution of the normalised population load which reflects populated areas with concentrations above the daily AQS was evaluated. The hot spots for both AMA and TMA areas correspond to urban areas and areas with significant primary PM10 emissions.

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