Retrospective Modeling of NO2 and PM10 Concentrations over the Lyon Metropolitan Area (France), 1990–2010—Performance Evaluation, Exposure Assessment and Correlation between Pollutants

Thomas Coudon,Chi Vuong Nguyen,Perrine Volta,Pietro Salizzoni,John Gulliver,Lionel Soulhac,Lény Grassot,Francesca Romana Mancini,Béatrice Fervers,Florian Couvidat

doi:10.3390/atmos12020239

Abstract

Numerous cancers develop years after subjects have been exposed to chemical compounds. Thus, environmental epidemiological studies need to accurately reconstruct exposures over long periods. To estimate exposure to NO2 and PM10 concentrations, we modelled ground-level air concentrations, at very fine temporal (1 h) and spatial (10 m) resolutions, over a large European metropolitan area and at subject’s address of a French national cohort, for five different years (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010). Model performances were assessed by comparing the annual modelled concentration against monitoring station measurements. As input data, we used background concentrations from a large-scale dispersion model. The relevance of our approach was assessed by comparing results in 2010, with a modelling using monitoring values as background data. The comparison with measurement data showed good performance of the model for the majority of the period, with a performance declined in 1990. Concentrations at the subject’s residence decreased by 45% for PM10 and 38% for NO2. The proportion of subjects exposed above the WHO recommendations declined from 100% to 50% for PM10 and from 79% to 16% for NO2. The results of this study would provide a reference for future models to assess chronic exposures to PM10 and NO2 on a larger scale.

Highlights

In order to address these features, this study presented the results obtained with an urban dispersion model (SIRANE) for the assessment of NO2 and PM10 concentrations in the Lyon Metropolitan Area (LMA) between 1990 and 2010
SIRANE takes into account the contribution of hourly background concentrations, that is, due to emissions located outside the studied domain
The present study assessed the performances of the SIRANE model, for 2010, using two different background concentrations as input data

Summary

Introduction

There is evidence of effects on human health associated with exposure to concentration levels that are lower than current legislation thresholds [5,6,7,8,9]. The background concentration was considered as uniformly distributed over the study area and added to the concentrations estimated by SIRANE before applying the chemistry module (NO2 -O3 -NO) It can be estimated by means of concentrations measured at monitoring stations placed at the border of the domain and at distance from traffic axes [34,35,36] or by running a dispersion model over a larger (regional) domain [17,37,38]. Set of background data and concentrations measured at monitoring C stations (SD) Cmthe from the St Exupery Location.

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Results

Conclusion