Fifteen years' record of airborne allergenic pollen and meteorological parameters in Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract

A pollen calendar has been constructed for the area of Thessaloniki and relationships between pollen transport and meteorological parameters have been assessed. Daily airborne pollen records were collected over a 15-year period (1987-2001), using a Burkard continuous volumetric pollen trap, located in the centre of the city. Sixteen allergenic pollen types were identified. Simultaneously, daily records of five main meteorological parameters (mean air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, sunshine, wind speed) were made, and then correlated with fluctuations of the airborne pollen concentrations. For the first time in Greece, a pollen calendar has been constructed for 16 pollen types, from which it appears that 24.9% of the total pollen recorded belong to Cupressaceae, 20.8% to Quercus spp., 13.6% to Urticaceae, 9.1% to Oleaceae, 8.9% to Pinaceae, 6.3% to Poaceae, 5.4% to Platanaceae, 3.0% to Corylus spp., 2.5% to Chenopodiaceae and 1.4% to Populus spp. The percentages of Betula spp., Asteraceae (Artemisia spp. and Ambrosia spp.), Salix spp., Ulmaceae and Alnus spp. were each lower than 1%. A positive correlation between pollen transport and both mean temperature and sunshine was observed, whereas usually no correlation was found between pollen and relative humidity or rainfall. Finally, wind speed was generally found to have a significant positive correlation with the concentrations of 8 pollen types. For the first time in the area of Thessaloniki, and more generally in Greece, 15-year allergenic pollen records have been collected and meteorological parameters have been recorded. The airborne pollen concentration is strongly influenced by mean air temperature and sunshine duration. The highest concentrations of pollen grains are observed during spring (May).

Assessment of Airborne Microflora in the Indoor Micro-Environments of Residential Houses of Lahore, Pakistan

“…The levels of particulate matter, including bioaerosols, in the indoor environment depends on the number of the occupants, their activities, building structure, material, furnishings, and the outside air entering the building (Jaakkola and Miettinen, 1995;Douwes et al, 2003;Gioulekas et al, 2004;Bowers et al, 2011Bowers et al, , 2012. In fact microbial loads are significantly affected by the presence of human beings in the built environment (Loftness et al, 2007;Hospodsky et al, 2012).…”

Associations between weather conditions and ragweed pollen variations in Szeged, Hungary

“…Gioulekas et al (45), Kasprzyk (23), and Hernández-Ceballos et al (38) reported positive association between wind speed and daily pollen ratios. However, if mean temperature (T max ) favours ragweed pollen release, then wind may take away locally released pollen and bring a smaller amount of pollen from far away to the local environment.…”

“…For category (a) in the total data set ( Table 1) it was in positive, while for categories (a) and (d) in the data set A≤1 (Table 2) it was in inverse correlation with daily pollen ratios. If humidity is favourable, an increase in mean temperature (T mean ), if it is not too far from its optimum value, can accelerate vegetative and hence generative functions, which can increase airborne pollen concentrations [ Table 1, category (a)] (21,23,45). If humidity is low, an excessive increase in mean temperature (T mean ) can inhibit pollination, as the plant seeks to preserve water to maintain its vegetative life functions in contrast to the generative functions (39).…”

“…In general, pollen shedding is associated with shrinkage and rupture of anther walls at low relative humidity (44). Hence, relative humidity is inversely associated with pollen release (21,45). Furthermore, humid air makes pollen grains stick together, which in turn contributes to the inverse association (23).…”

Workshop on the Sources, Quantification and Health Implications of Bioaerosols Workshop Report

“…Furthermore there needs to be a consideration of the future effects of climate change on the bioaerosol exposure. Increases in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events and consequently to impacts on bioaerosol dispersion have already been observed (D'Amato et al, 2013;Gioulekas et al, 2004). However, to address these concerns it is clear that much greater understanding of exposure is required and for this improved methods to quantitatively and qualitatively analyse bioaerosol samples are needed.…”