title: Ozone exposure assessment for children in Greece - Results from the RESPOZE study.
abstract: Ozone exposure of 179 children in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece was assessed during 2013-2014, by repeated weekly personal measurements, using passive samplers. O3was also monitored at school locations of participants to characterize community-level ambient exposure. Average personal concentrations in the two cities (5.0 and 2.8ppb in Athens and Thessaloniki, respectively) were considerably lower than ambient concentrations (with mean personal/ambient ratios of 0.13-0.15). The temporal variation of personal concentrations followed the -typical for low-latitude areas- pattern of cold-warm seasons. However, differences were detected between temporal distributions of personal and ambient concentrations, since personal exposures were affected by additional factors which present seasonal variability, such as outdoor activity and house ventilation. Significant spatial contrasts were observed between urban and suburban areas, for personal concentrations in Athens, with higher exposure for children residing in the N-NE part of the area. In Thessaloniki, spatial variations in personal concentrations were less pronounced, echoing the spatial pattern of ambient concentrations, a result of complex local meteorology and the smaller geographical expansion of the study area. Ambient concentration was identified as the most important factor influencing personal exposures (correlation coefficients between 0.36 and 0.67). Associations appeared to be stronger with ambient concentrations measured at school locations of children, than to those reported by the nearest site of the air quality monitoring network, indicating the importance of community-representative outdoor monitoring for characterization of personal-ambient relationships. Time spent outdoors by children was limited (>90% of the time they remained indoors), but -due to the lack of indoor sources- it was found to exert significant influence on personal concentrations, affecting inter-subject and spatiotemporal variability. Additional parameters that were identified as relevant for the determination of personal concentrations were indoor ventilation conditions (specifically indoor times with windows open) and the use of wood-burning in open fireplaces for heating as an ozone sink.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, GR 15780, Greece. Electronic address: ggrivas@mail.ntua.gr.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grivas
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 75, Mikras Asias Street, 115 27 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dimakopoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 75, Mikras Asias Street, 115 27 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Samoli
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Department, G. Papanikolaou Hospital, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Despina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papakosta
authors.affiliation: 2nd Pulmonary Department, "ATTIKON" University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karakatsani
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 75, Mikras Asias Street, 115 27 Athens, Greece; Department of Primary Care & Public Health Sciences and MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Klea
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katsouyanni
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, GR 15780, Greece.
authors.forename: Archontoula
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaloulakou
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002947:Cities; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D010126:Ozone / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D010126:Ozone
keywords: Athens; O(3); Panel study; Passive sampling; Personal exposure; Thessaloniki