The LIFE Index-Air integrated exposure - dose management tool for the reduction of PM pollution and the protection of public health – Development and implementation in 5 European Cities

Background and Aim Air pollution remains a major health concern in Europe, despite the adoption of mitigation policies over the last decades. The LIFE Index-Air project developed a novel policy support tool, aiming to cover the gap between ambient air quality management and real-life exposure of urban populations and related health risks. This work presents the main features of the Tool and results from its implementation in five European cities: Lisbon and Porto (Portugal), Treviso (Italy), Athens (Greece) and Kuopio (Finland). Methods The tool is based on an integrated exposure-dose-burden of disease assessment. It incorporates a number of specialised models and provides (1) the spatial distribution of pollutants emissions, ambient concentrations, citizens’ exposure, and respective Burden of Disease; (2) the PM dose deposited in the respiratory system. The Tool also allows users to build scenarios of emission control measures and exposure scenarios, based on modified time activity patterns. Results PM concentration and exposure mapping, provided by the Tool, revealed the pollution hot spots in each city. Exposure was found higher for young children, in comparison to adults. The school / work microenvironments and outdoor physical activities were responsible for the highest doses of PM. The implementation of control measures related to vehicular traffic resulted in 7 - 10% reduction in mortality in Lisbon, Porto and Athens. A reduction of 10% in mortality was also estimated for Treviso if efficient wood burning devices were to be used for residential heating. Conclusions Index-Air Tool provides, for the first time, quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of control policies, with respect to citizens’ exposure and related health. It also addresses measures aiming at reducing citizens’ exposure through the adoption of alternative, less impacted by air pollution, everyday schedules. Keywords: Policy tool, Particulate pollution, Population exposure, Deposited dose, Burden of disease, Emission / exposure scenarios.