Spatiotemporal variations of ozone exposure and its risks to vegetation and human health in Cyprus:an analysis across a gradient of altitudes

作     者：Stefanos Agathokleous Costas JSaitanis Chrysanthos Savvides Pierre Sicard Evgenios Agathokleous Alessandra De Marco Stefanos Agathokleous;Costas J.Saitanis;Chrysanthos Savvides;Pierre Sicard;Evgenios Agathokleous;Alessandra De Marco

作者机构：The Cyprus InstituteNicosiaCyprus University of the AegeanMytileneLesvosGreece Agricultural University of AthensAthensGreece Department of Labour InspectionMinistry of Labour and Social InsuranceNicosiaCyprus ARGANS260 route du Pin MontardBiotFrance School of Applied MeteorologyNanjing University of Information Science and Technology(NUIST)Nanjing 210044People’s Republic of China National Agency for New TechnologiesEnergy and Sustainable Economic DevelopmentRomeItaly 

出 版 物：《Journal of Forestry Research》 (林业研究（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2023年第34卷第3期

页      面：579-594页

核心收录：

学科分类：0907[农学-林学] 07[理学] 070602[理学-大气物理学与大气环境] 0706[理学-大气科学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)(No.4210070867) the Foreign Young Talents Fund of the National Ministry of Science and Technology,China(No.31950410547) The Startup Foundation for Introducing Talent of Nanjing University of Information Science&Technology(NUIST),Nanjing,China(No.003080) the Jiangsu Distinguished Professor program of the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province,China. 

主　　题：Air pollution Ozone risk assessment Exposure metrics Vegetation Human health 

摘      要：Ground-level ozone(O_(3)) aff ects vegetation and threatens environmental health when levels exceed critical values,above which adverse eff ects are expected.Cyprus is expected to be a hotspot for O_(3)concentrations due to its unique position in the eastern Mediterranean,receiving air masses from Europe,African,and Asian continents,and experiencing a warm Mediterranean climate.In Cyprus,the spatiotemporal features of O_(3) are poorly understood and the potential risks for forest health have not been explored.We evaluated O_(3) and nitrogen oxides(NO and NO 2)at four regional background stations at different altitudes over 2014−2016.O_(3) risks to vegetation and human health were estimated by calculating accumulated O_(3)exposure over a threshold of 40 nmol mol^(−1)(AOT40)and cumulative exposure to mixing ratios above 35 nmol mol^(−1)(SOMO35)indices.The data reveal that mean O_(3)concentrations follow a seasonal pattern,with higher levels in spring(51.8 nmol mol^(−1))and summer(53.2 nmol mol^(−1))and lower levels in autumn(46.9 nmol mol^(−1))and winter(43.3 nmol mol^(−1)).The highest mean O_(3)exposure(59.5 nmol mol^(−1)) in summer occurred at the high elevation station Mt.Troodos(1819 m a.s.l.).Increasing(decreasing)altitudinal gradients were found for O_(3)(NO x),driven by summer–winter diff erences.The diurnal patterns of O_(3) showed little variation.Only at the lowest altitude O_(3) displayed a typical O_(3) diurnal pattern,with hourly diff erences smaller than 15 nmol mol^(−1).Accumulated O_(3) exposures at all stations and in all years exceeded the European Union’s limits for the protection of vegetation,with average values of 3-month(limit:3000 nmol mol^(−1)h)and 6-month(limit:5000 nmol mol^(−1)h)AOT40 for crops and forests of 16,564 and 31,836 nmol mol^(−1)h,respectively.O_(3) exposures were considerably high for human health,with an average SOMO35 value of 7270 nmol mol^(−1) days across stations and years.The results indicate that O_(3) is a major environmental and public health issue in Cyprus,and policies must be adopted to mitigate O_(3) precursor emissions at local and regional scales.