Urban areas of high population density are important research areas for the exposure of the public to pathogenic environmental factors, namely atmospheric pollutants. To assess the risks and impacts of air pollution and to design control policies, it is necessary to accurately quantify the daily exposure of citizens. The object of the present study is to assess urban population exposure to air pollutants by measuring each subject’s exposure, combining location, activity and air pollution data in various microenvironments that each volunteer moves, using new, low-cost static and portable sensors. The experimental process has been a combination of personal and static monitoring sensors of high-technology, as well as, low cost. The PhD thesis aims to create a high spatial and temporal analysis sampling methodology in order to, accurately, estimate population exposure to air pollution through personal exposure, by setting a network of technologically upgraded, low cost, portable and static, real-time, exposure monitoring sensors, combined with qualitative data to be obtained through questionnaires. The development of a predictive computational model based on direct, real-time, exposure measurements, which will assess the risk to human health as a result of changing conditions, such as socio-economic parameters, health parameters, etc. is the main research outcome of this dissertation. The above mentioned model / tool, will comprise a decision support system for policy makers to develop strategies to improve air quality. This will be due to the fact that they will have valid procedures for  assessing the exposure of citizens to gaseous pollution and its health effects. The long-term perspective of the dissertation’s results is the promotion of this research methodology to be used in studies of integrated population exposure assessment, in large urban centers.

The aim of the present research is to study the presence and environmental fate of short chain chlorinated alkanes (SCCPs), which is a new category of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), in the urban environment. These compounds are widely used industrially as additives in the processing of metals, as plasticizers, in rubber, in paints and more, while their production has increased the last years. During their production and use they are released into the environment and distributed in the various environmental compartments. Research shows that SCCPs are toxic compounds and have long-term carcinogenic effects. In addition, SCCPs meet the criteria for their designation as POPs, for the possibility of causing adverse effects on organisms, their accumulation in them and their transport over long distances. As a result of this behavior SCCPs are detected in the atmosphere, aquatic environment and organisms, even in remote areas such as the Arctic and Antarctic. In addition, research shows that SCCPs are toxic compounds and have long-term carcinogenic effects. Their danger has led the EU to include them in priority water pollutants. Also, these compounds are characterized as harmful to the marine environment. Moreover, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies them as toxic compounds for aquatic organisms. The number of surveys on the levels and environmental fate of SCCPs in Europe is limited. As far as Greece is concerned, there is no evidence for these associations. In the context of this study, SCCPs will be identified in the atmosphere of Athens, in order to determine the environmental concentrations, to investigate the possible sources of pollution and to evaluate the exposure to these pollutants.