EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS RELEVANT FOR RESPIRATORY HYPERSENSITIVITY - EUROPEAN ASPECTS

The need for assessing air pollution exposure on the individual and po pulation levels is urgent, as health effects are observed at concentra tions even below existing air quality guidelines (AQG). Typical Europe an concentrations and trends over time of four main air quality indica tors (nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and particulate matter) are presented, together with their revised WHO AQG. In order to descr ibe concentrations of pollutants each individual and population groups are exposed to, methods have been developed that estimate these conce ntrations using different forms of modelling. The EXPO model, develope d to assess European exposure to air quality contaminants, estimates e xceedances of AQG in many European cities and serves as an initial ste p in estimating European population exposure. Individual pollution exp osure is estimated by measuring/estimating pollution concentrations at the home and/or by following and integrating exposure in different mi cro-environments. Examples of these methods are presented.