Project
Particles have major impacts on climate and are the most serious air pollution health risk, having been classified as carcinogens. While stringent policies have led to ample reductions in particle exhaust emissions, currently traffic non-exhaust emissions, together with cooking, are unabated. SOPRO seeks to develop hitherto unavailable Luso-Brazilian chemical and toxicological emission profiles for major urban sources, to improve our ability to accurately apportion their contributions to pollution levels and to model air quality under different activity patterns, climate and mitigation scenarios. The results can be useful to update emission inventories, review environmental standards, support air quality plans and identify strategies to reduce pollution levels and the associated health risks.
To accomplish with the proposed, SOPRO is divided into 4 Work Packages:
- Emission factors/Source Profiles;
- Source apportionment and updated inventories;
- Toxicology;
- Chemical transport modelling.
SOPRO outcomes will help us achieve better communication with stakeholders from relevant sectors in a media-driven society. The results can be used for updating emission inventories, reviewing environmental standards, support air quality plans and policies and identifying regional abatement measures to reduce PM-related air pollution and the associated health risks. In addition, through the longstanding involvement of some partners in the IPCC process and other international assessments, SOPRO will ensure that results will have impact beyond Europe, which is essential in the climate policy arena.