Health externalities of ship air pollution at port - Piraeus port case study

This paper is employing the well-known methodology of impact pathway approach to assess the external costs in human health from ship air pollution at port areas. The passenger port of Piraeus, Greece is the scenery of the study. Piraeus port is in the vicinity of the greater Athens metropolitan area where almost half of the country's population lives. Hence, this port is the central hub of the Greek coastal passenger ship system which connects the islands of the Aegean Sea with land and is characterized by heavy ship traffic. The case study presented in this paper assesses the annual external cost in human health from air emissions produced by all passenger ships and cruise ships calling the port of Piraeus. Health cost from ships at port has been estimated at both local (Athens metropolitan area) and regional level (entire territory of Greece). Results show that higher costs occur at the local level. The dominant pollutants creating this cost are particulate matter (PM2.5, and PM10). Overall, the results indicate that the health impact of Piraeus's passenger port emissions is not negligible; however the cost of PM10 is considerably lower than the corresponded cost deriving from the land based industries of the Athens regional area for which comparison has been available. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.