The air and dust invisible mycobiome of urban domestic environments.

Air and dust harbor a dynamic fungal biome that interacts with residential environment inhabitants usually with negative implications for human health. Fungal air and dust synthesis were investigated in houses across the Athens Metropolitan area. Active and passive culture dependent methods were employed to sample airborne and dustborne fungi for two sampling periods, one in winter and the other in summer.

User-Centred Design of a Final Results Report for Participants in Multi-Sensor Personal Air Pollution Exposure Monitoring Campaigns.

Using low-cost portable air quality (AQ) monitoring devices is a growing trend in personal exposure studies, enabling a higher spatio-temporal resolution and identifying acute exposure to high concentrations. Comprehension of the results by participants is not guaranteed in exposure studies. However, information on personal exposure is multiplex, which calls for participant involvement in information design to maximise communication output and comprehension.

Harmonization and Visualization of Data from a Transnational Multi-Sensor Personal Exposure Campaign.

Use of a multi-sensor approach can provide citizens with holistic insights into the air quality of their immediate surroundings and their personal exposure to urban stressors. Our work, as part of the ICARUS H2020 project, which included over 600 participants from seven European cities, discusses the data fusion and harmonization of a diverse set of multi-sensor data streams to provide a comprehensive and understandable report for participants. Harmonizing the data streams identified issues with the sensor devices and protocols, such as non-uniform timestamps, data gaps, difficult data retrieval from commercial devices, and coarse activity data logging.

NPAHs and OPAHs in the atmosphere of two central European cities: Seasonality, urban-to-background gradients, cancer risks and gas-to-particle partitioning.

Derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as nitrated- and oxygenated-PAHs (NPAHs and OPAHs) could be even more toxic and harmful for the environment and humans than PAHs. We assessed the spatial and seasonal variations of NPAHs and OPAHs atmospheric levels, their cancer risks and their gas-to-particle partitioning. To this end, about 250 samples of fine particulate matter (PM) and 50 gaseous samples were collected in 2017 in central Europe in the cities of Brno and Ljubljana (two traffic and two urban background sites) as well as one rural site.

Neighbourhood and path-based greenspace in three European countries: associations with objective physical activity.

Background: Greenspace has been associated with health benefits in many contexts. An important pathway may be through outdoor physical activity. We use a novel approach to examine the link between greenspace microenvironments and outdoor physical activity levels in the HEALS study conducted in Edinburgh (UK), the Netherlands, and Athens and Thessaloniki (Greece).

Multi-city comparative PM source apportionment for fifteen sites in Europe: The ICARUS project.

PM is an air pollution metric widely used to assess air quality, with the European Union having set targets for reduction in PM levels and population exposure. A major challenge for the scientific community is to identify, quantify and characterize the sources of atmospheric particles in the aspect of proposing effective control strategies. In the frame of ICARUS EU2020 project, a comprehensive database including PM concentration and chemical composition (ions, metals, organic/elemental carbon, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) from three sites (traffic, urban background, rural) of five European cities (Athens, Brno, Ljubljana, Madrid, Thessaloniki) was created.

Urban greenspace and the indoor environment: Pathways to health via indoor particulate matter, noise, and road noise annoyance.

Background/aim: The exposome includes urban greenspace, which may affect health via a complex set of pathways, including reducing exposure to particulate matter (PM) and noise. We assessed these pathways using indoor exposure monitoring data from the HEALS study in four European urban areas (Edinburgh, UK; Utrecht, Netherlands; Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece).

Methods: We quantified three metrics of residential greenspace at 50 m and 100 m buffers: Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), annual tree cover density, and surrounding green land use.

Chemical characterization, sources and potential health risk of PM and PM pollution across the Greater Athens Area.

With the principal aim to assess the typical Mediterranean profile of the PM and PM pollution, three intensive monitoring campaigns took place simultaneously within different types of environment across an urban location of the basin. Focusing on the PM components with numerous anthropogenic sources and increased potential health risk, the samples were chemically analyzed for 20 p.m.

Comparison of methods for converting Dylos particle number concentrations to PM2.5 mass concentrations.

The aim of this study was to (a) develop a method for converting particle number concentrations (PNC) obtained by Dylos to PM2.5 mass concentrations, (b) compare this conversion with similar methods available in the literature, and (c) compare Dylos PM2.5 obtained using all available conversion methods with gravimetric samples.

PM2.5 source apportionment for the port city of Thessaloniki, Greece.

This paper aims to identify the chemical fingerprints of potential PM2.5 sources and estimate their contribution to Thessaloniki port-city's air quality. For this scope, Positive Matrix Factorization model was applied on a comprehensive PM2.

The traffic signature on the vertical PM profile: Environmental and health risks within an urban roadside environment.

In an attempt to investigate the traffic-impacted vertical aerosols profile and its relationship with potential carcinogenicity and/or mutagenicity, samples of different sized airborne particles were collected in parallel at the 1st and 5th floor of a 19 m high building located next to one of the busiest roads of Athens. The maximum daily concentrations were 65.9, 42.

Assessing personal exposure to PM using data from an integrated indoor-outdoor experiment in Athens-Greece.

An integrated indoor-outdoor 15-day PM sampling campaign in a general area close to the centre of Athens, targeted to examine personal exposure. All microenvironments (MEs) (second and fourth floor flats, cafes, cars, restaurants, underground metro, outdoor etc.) frequented by the residents were included in the study.

Biomarkers of exposure in environment-wide association studies - Opportunities to decode the exposome using human biomonitoring data.

Background: The European Union's 7th Framework Programme (EU's FP7) project HEALS - Health and Environment-wide Associations based on Large Population Surveys - aims a refinement of the methodology to elucidate the human exposome. Human biomonitoring (HBM) provides a valuable tool for understanding the magnitude of human exposure from all pathways and sources. However, availability of specific biomarkers of exposure (BoE) is limited.

Assessing and enhancing the utility of low-cost activity and location sensors for exposure studies.

Nowadays, the advancement of mobile technology in conjunction with the introduction of the concept of exposome has provided new dynamics to the exposure studies. Since the addressing of health outcomes related to environmental stressors is crucial, the improvement of exposure assessment methodology is of paramount importance. Towards this aim, a pilot study was carried out in the two major cities of Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki), investigating the applicability of commercially available fitness monitors and the Moves App for tracking people's location and activities, as well as for predicting the type of the encountered location, using advanced modeling techniques.

Standardisation of a European measurement method for organic carbon and elemental carbon in ambient air: results of the field trial campaign and the determination of a measurement uncertainty and working range.

The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) Technical Committee 264 'Air Quality' has recently produced a standard method for the measurements of organic carbon and elemental carbon in PM within its working group 35 in response to the requirements of European Directive 2008/50/EC. It is expected that this method will be used in future by all Member States making measurements of the carbonaceous content of PM. This paper details the results of a laboratory and field measurement campaign and the statistical analysis performed to validate the standard method, assess its uncertainty and define its working range to provide clarity and confidence in the underpinning science for future users of the method.

Source apportionment of indoor PM10 in Elderly Care Centre.

Source contribution to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has been exhaustively modelled. However, people spend most of their time indoors where this approach is less explored. This evidence worsens considering elders living in Elderly Care Centres, since they are more susceptible.

Assessment of PM₂.₅ and PM₁ chemical profile in a multiple-impacted Mediterranean urban area: origin, sources and meteorological dependence.

Airborne particulate matter in the PM2.5 and PM1 size ranges has been sampled at three sites within the Mediterranean urban area of the Athens Basin, representing background, roadside-industrialized and coastal background locations. With the principal aim to identify the sources and discriminate the contribution of the regional input versus the local one, simultaneous chemical characterization with respect to carbonaceous and ionic species was also carried out on the collected samples.

Organic and elemental carbon associated to PM10 and PM 2.5 at urban sites of northern Greece.

Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations, associated to PM10 and PM2.5 particle fractions, were concurrently determined during the warm and the cold months of the year (July-September 2011 and February-April 2012, respectively) at two urban sites in the city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, an urban-traffic site (UT) and an urban-background site (UB). Concentrations at the UT site (11.

Particulate matter pollution over a Mediterranean urban area.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the aerosols' (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1) spatial and temporal distribution in different types of environment in a Mediterranean urban region, the Greater Athens Area based on data from a sampling campaign that took place during the cold and warm period of 2008. The influence of the atmospheric circulation patterns, the possible local transport mechanisms, as well as the differentiation of the PM behaviour from that of the inorganic pollutants (NOx, O3), are analysed and discussed.

The role of meteorology on different sized aerosol fractions (PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, PM₂.₅-₁₀).

The scope of the present study is to assess the influence of meteorology on different diameter particles (PM(10), PM(2.5), PM(2.5-10)) during a 53 months long experimental campaign at an urban Mediterranean area.

Particulate matter levels in a suburban Mediterranean area: analysis of a 53-month long experimental campaign.

Parallel measurements of ambient particulate matter mass in terms of PM(10), PM(2.5) and PM(2.5-10), conducted during a 53 months long experiment, between 2003 and 2008.

Assessing odour nuisance from wastewater treatment and composting facilities in Greece.

The problem of odour nuisances in Greece was explored using: (a) field measurements of a range of malodorous compounds (hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, benzene, toluene, xylenes, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl-mercaptan and carbonyl sulfide) from selected wastewater treatment plants and composting facilities; and (b) questionnaires, completed by wastewater treatment plant operators, to investigate potential odour problems, the odour abatement technologies used, and potential interest and motives for adopting such technologies. The sparse information available in the literature is also exploited. Results indicate that on several occasions there was an odour problem, often stemming from the uncontrolled city sprawl, which results in mixed and often conflicting land uses.

PM1 and PM2.5 ionic composition and VOCs measurements in two typical apartments in Athens, Greece: investigation of smoking contribution to indoor air concentrations.

During the last decades, the air quality of the city of Athens has been quite aggravated. Scientific interest has been focused on health effects caused by both outdoor and indoor air pollution. The purpose of this study was the presentation of results from air quality measurements in two similar typical Athenian apartments in the same suburban area.

PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air: a focus on the effect of meteorology.

PM(2.5) and VOCs (benzene, toluene, m-p-o-xylenes) concentrations were measured in an urban and a suburban site in Athens, Greece, during the period between April and November 2004. This period, which is considered to be the warmer period in Greece, is characterized by the development of sea-breeze over the Attica Basin.

Ions species size distribution in particulate matter associated with VOCs and meteorological conditions over an urban region.

Airborne particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, PM1) and volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene, m,p-xylene, o-xylene) samples were collected during winter and summer seasons of 2005 at two sites, representing an urban and a suburban region of the Greater Athens Area. Urban site traffic emissions were the major contributor to the concentration of PM2.