The EXPOSOGAS project will substantially increase the capacity of the widening institution in Cyprus in advancing its research capacity in health sciences applied to oil/gas activities using the Exposome paradigm in the Eastern Mediterranean (EM). The Exposome is a new field of research aiming at mapping the life-long human environmental exposures, including chemicals, diet, lifestyle, etc., from conception onwards in relation to health. As the oil/gas industry is most important to the economic development of Cyprus, embedding of health and safety aspects in relation to occupational, environmental and societal health is warranted. The objectives are to: i) improve scientific knowledge transfer of occupational and environmental public health issues within and around gas/oil operations from the advanced institutions to the widening institution, ii) develop relationships with local and regional stakeholders to facilitate partnerships for future research benefiting the oil and gas industry, and iii) develop training and capacity building resources for existing Cyprus staff and students in the field of Exposome research. The focus on capacity building will be geared towards developing Exposome-based studies in occupational and environmental health related to oil/gas operations, including the health and quality of life for surrounding communities. The advanced institutions will provide training and knowledge exchange to existing staff members via access to their research projects relating to the Exposome. Scientific and innovation metrics of research performance will be used, monitored and evaluated throughout. Engaging in discussions with local and regional stakeholders towards the future set-up of an occupational cohort relating to oil/gas operations in Cyprus and the EM will mature by the project end. Frequent staff exchange schemes, workshops, and summer schools will be set-up, including a large international conference on the Exposome and its applications.

Air pollution has figured prominently as one of the environmental crises of the day. There is now a market in consumer air monitors, which makes pollution monitoring more accessible to the public than before. Consumer monitors are distinguished from the pollution monitors used by researchers in terms of cost (these can be many times cheaper than research instruments), user friendliness, and quality (there is great uncertainty about the long-term reliability and accuracy of these monitors). Because of the existing national monitoring stations for air pollution are relatively few, mathematical models are often used to fill in missing data. However, models still require ground-level calibration from monitors, so there is still a need for higher resolution monitoring across space and time for improving model estimates. Establishment of a high resolution monitoring network is still cost-prohibitive. Mobile monitoring is another potential way of obtaining this high resolution data. Citizens could be a form of mobile monitoring, and we will explore the feasibility of developing a campaign to measure air pollution across time and space with citizens as data collectors. We will also explore the possibility of using consumer air monitors to determine whether this effort could be citizen-led, rather than relying on researchers to supply monitoring equipment. We will also explore how people interact with the data collection process and the data they collect, as well as the benefits they receive from this activity, to better incorporate citizen science into future air pollution exposure research.

This proposal aims to do a comprehensive evaluation of air pollution health impacts on cardiopulmonary health through integration of exposure, epidemiology, and toxicology/toxicogenomic studies. We will do detailed assessments of people's exposure to air pollution, estimating exposures for long- and short-term epidemiological analyses, and linking these to epidemiological analyses of long term health impacts based on a cohort study, short-term effects (i.e. biomarkers, blood pressure, heart rhythm, peak flow) based on a panel study, and early life effects based on a birth cohort. Additionally, we test the effect of reducing exposure to fine particles, but not gases, by designing an intervention study where volunteers will wear a face mask and examining the exposure-response relationship for the same short-term effects we evaluate in the panel study. The short-term physiological measurements we conduct in the epidemiological studies will provide insight into the mechanisms by which air pollutions affects cardiopulmonary health. To complement the human based studies into mechanisms of action, our project will also conduct extensive in vivo analyses of mechanistic effects, and early life toxicogenomics/metabonomics. Finally, we will provide practical advice to stakeholders based on our study findings, by assessing the potential value of selected strategies for control of exposure to outdoor health protection in a health risk assessment.