| 1. |
- de Weger, Letty, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of pollen.
- 2013
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Ingår i: Sofiev, M. and Bergmann, KC: Allergenic Pollen. A review of the production, release, distribution and health impacts.. - Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London : Springer. - 9789400748804 ; , s. 161-215
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The impact of pollen on human health is primarily evident in allergic diseases. Sensitized patients can respond to pollen by symptoms of nose, eyes and bronchi. Pollen threshold levels for symptom development vary among the different studies. Factors that influence the threshold level of a pollen species for symptom development are discussed. (i) Differences in response are observed among individual patients, but also among (ii) ethnic populations, (iii) changes in response to pollen concentrations during the pollen season occur, (iv) the amount of allergens carried by the pollen grains can differ in per region, from day to day and from year to year, and finally (v) threshold levels are affected by environmental factors, like weather conditions (temperature, pressure, and storms), and air pollutants. The diversity of factors that influence the health impact of pollen has hampered the definition of a straight forward relationship between pollen and the severity of symptoms. However, within the public, the policymakers and the pharmaceutical industry there is a need for a definition of threshold pollen levels. A first approach to meet this need could be to define preliminary threshold values for different regions, followed by a validation of these preliminary threshold levels with patient symptom scores that can be collected by using new information and communication technology (ICT). Finally, the possible role of pollen in non-allergic diseases is discussed, especially non-allergic respiratory diseases, cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases, and psychiatric diseases, including suicide and suicide attempt.
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| 2. |
- Prank, Marje, et al.
(författare)
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An operational model for forecasting ragweed pollen release and dispersion in Europe.
- 2013
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Ingår i: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1923. ; 182-183, s. 43-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The paper considers the possibilities of modelling the release and dispersion of the pollen of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.), a highly allergenic invasive weed, which is spreading through southern and central Europe. In order to provide timely warnings for the allergy sufferers, a model was developed for forecasting ragweed pollen concentrations in the air. The development was based on the system for integrated modelling of atmospheric composition (SILAM) and concentrated on spatio-temporal modelling of ragweed flowering season and pollen release, which constitutes the emission term. Evaluation of the new model against multi-annual ragweed pollen observations demonstrated that the model reproduces well the main ragweed pollen season in the areas with major plant presence, such as the Pannonian Plain, the Lyon area in France, the Milan region in Italy, Ukraine and southern Russia. The predicted start of the season is mostly within 3 days of the observed for the majority of stations in these areas. The temporal correlation between modelled and observed concentrations exceeds 0.6 for the bulk of the stations. Model application to the seasons of 2005–2011 indicated the regions with high ragweed pollen concentrations, in particular the areas where allergenic thresholds are exceeded. It is demonstrated that, due to long-range transport of pollen, high-concentration areas are substantially more extensive than the heavily infested territories.
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| 3. |
- Sofiev, Mikhail, et al.
(författare)
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Airborne pollen transport.
- 2013
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Ingår i: In: Sofiev, M and Bergman, KC (eds.): Allergenic Pollen. A review of the production, release, distribution and health impacts.. - Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London : Springer Science + Business Media. - 9789400748804 ; , s. 127-159
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter reviews the present knowledge and previous developments concerning the pollen transport in the atmosphere. Numerous studies are classified according to the spatial scales of the applications, key processes considered, and the methodology involved. Space-wise, local, regional and long-range scales are distinguished. An attempt of systematization is made towards the key processes responsiblefor the observed patterns: initial dispersion of pollen grains in the nearest vicinity of the sources at micro-scale, transport with the wind, mixing inside the atmospheric boundary layer and dry and wet removal at the regional scale, and the long-range dispersion with synoptic scale-wind, exchange between the boundary layer and free troposphere, roles of dry and wet removal, interactions with chemicals and solar radiation at the large scales. Atmospheric dispersion modelling can pursue two goals: estimation of concentrations from known source (forward problem), and the source apportionment (inverse problem). Historically, the inverse applications were made first, mainly using the simple trajectory models. The sophisticated integrated systems capable of simulating all main processes of pollen lifecycle have been emerging only during the last decade using experience of the atmospheric chemical composition modelling. Several studies suggest the allergen existence in the atmosphere separately from the pollen grains - as observed in different parts of the world. However, there is no general understanding of the underlying processes, and the phenomenon itself is still debated. Another new area with strongly insufficient knowledge is the interactions of airborne allergens and chemical pollutants.
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