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

Ground-level ozone (O(3)) affects vegetation and threatens environmental health when levels exceed critical values, above which adverse effects 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 differences. 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 differences 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.