Study of the Interrelations of the Concentrations of Six Tree Pollen Types and Six Atmospheric Pollutants with Rhinitis and Allergic Conjunctivitis in the Community of Madrid

Abstract

Allergic pathologies of aerobiological origin, specifically those caused by exposure to pollen allergens, have shown a growing trend in recent decades worldwide. This trend is most evident in urban areas experiencing an incessant expansion of their territory. Several studies have shown an interaction between atmospheric pollutants and pollen grains, which implies a potentiation of the allergenicity of the latter. This study aims to analyze the possible influence, in the Community of Madrid (CAM), of the concentrations of six atmospheric pollutants (O3, particles PM10 and PM2.5, NO2, CO, and SO2), and of the pollen concentrations of six types of tree pollen (Cupressaceae, Olea, Platanus, Pinus, Ulmus, and Populus) on the episodes of attention of two pathologies, rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. The data collected came from the Air Quality Networks of the CAM and the Madrid City Council, the Palynological Network of the CAM, and the General Subdirectorate of Epidemiology of the Health Department of the CAM. Descriptive multiple linear regression models were used to analyze the interrelationships of the three variables. In most of the calculations performed, the adjusted R2 value is higher than 30%, and, in all cases, the p-values of the models obtained are less than 0.0001. All the models performed in the study period for allergic rhinitis indicate a reasonable correlation, and this is also true for almost all of the models calculated for allergic conjunctivitis. Moreover, it is allergic rhinitis for which the highest values of adjusted R2 were obtained. Pinus is the pollen type most frequently interrelated with conjunctivitis and allergic rhinitis (followed in both cases by Olea and Populus) throughout the study years. In this same period, O3 is the air pollutant most frequently present in the models calculated for allergic conjunctivitis (followed by NO2 and PM10), while particle PM10 is the most frequently included in the calculations made for allergic rhinitis, followed by O3 and SO2.