Changes to airborne pollen counts across Europe

C. Ziello; Tim Sparks; N. Estrella; J. Belmonte; K.C. Bergmann; E. Bucher; M.A. Brighetti; A. Damialis; M. Detandt; C. Galán; R. Gehrig; L. Grewling; A.M.G. Bustillo; M. Hallsdóttir; M-C. Kockhans-Bieda; C. De Linares; D. Myszkowska; A. Pàldy; A. Sánchez; M. Smith; M. Thibaudon; A. Travaglini; A. Uruska; R.M. Valencia-Barrera; D. Vokou; R. Wachter; L.A. de Weger; A. Menzel

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034076

Changes to airborne pollen counts across Europe

C. Ziello, Tim Sparks, N. Estrella, J. Belmonte, K.C. Bergmann, E. Bucher, M.A. Brighetti, A. Damialis, M. Detandt, C. Galán, R. Gehrig, L. Grewling, A.M.G. Bustillo, M. Hallsdóttir, M-C. Kockhans-Bieda, C. De Linares, D. Myszkowska, A. Pàldy, A. Sánchez, M. SmithM. Thibaudon, A. Travaglini, A. Uruska, R.M. Valencia-Barrera, D. Vokou, R. Wachter, L.A. de Weger, A. Menzel

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Abstract

A progressive global increase in the burden of allergic diseases has affected the industrialized world over the last half century and has been reported in the literature. The clinical evidence reveals a general increase in both incidence and prevalence of respiratory diseases, such as allergic rhinitis (common hay fever) and asthma. Such phenomena may be related not only to air pollution and changes in lifestyle, but also to an actual increase in airborne quantities of allergenic pollen. Experimental enhancements of carbon dioxide (CO) have demonstrated changes in pollen amount and allergenicity, but this has rarely been shown in the wider environment. The present analysis of a continental-scale pollen data set reveals an increasing trend in the yearly amount of airborne pollen for many taxa in Europe, which is more pronounced in urban than semi-rural/rural areas. Climate change may contribute to these changes, however increased temperatures do not appear to be a major influencing factor. Instead, we suggest the anthropogenic rise of atmospheric CO levels may be influential.

Original language	English
Article number	e34076
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	7
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034076
Publication status	Published - 13 Apr 2012

Bibliographical note

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Full licence terms can be found at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Keywords

hayfever
asthma
airborne pollen count
carbon dioxide

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1371/journal.pone.0034076Licence: CC BY

Changes to the pollen countFinal published version, 1.1 MBLicence: CC BY

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Ziello, C., Sparks, T., Estrella, N., Belmonte, J., Bergmann, K. C., Bucher, E., Brighetti, M. A., Damialis, A., Detandt, M., Galán, C., Gehrig, R., Grewling, L., Bustillo, A. M. G., Hallsdóttir, M., Kockhans-Bieda, M.-C., De Linares, C., Myszkowska, D., Pàldy, A., Sánchez, A., ... Menzel, A. (2012). Changes to airborne pollen counts across Europe. PLoS ONE, 7(4), Article e34076. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034076

Ziello, C, Sparks, T, Estrella, N, Belmonte, J, Bergmann, KC, Bucher, E, Brighetti, MA, Damialis, A, Detandt, M, Galán, C, Gehrig, R, Grewling, L, Bustillo, AMG, Hallsdóttir, M, Kockhans-Bieda, M-C, De Linares, C, Myszkowska, D, Pàldy, A, Sánchez, A, Smith, M, Thibaudon, M, Travaglini, A, Uruska, A, Valencia-Barrera, RM, Vokou, D, Wachter, R, de Weger, LA & Menzel, A 2012, 'Changes to airborne pollen counts across Europe', PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 4, e34076. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034076

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AU - Brighetti, M.A.

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AU - Pàldy, A.

AU - Sánchez, A.

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N2 - A progressive global increase in the burden of allergic diseases has affected the industrialized world over the last half century and has been reported in the literature. The clinical evidence reveals a general increase in both incidence and prevalence of respiratory diseases, such as allergic rhinitis (common hay fever) and asthma. Such phenomena may be related not only to air pollution and changes in lifestyle, but also to an actual increase in airborne quantities of allergenic pollen. Experimental enhancements of carbon dioxide (CO) have demonstrated changes in pollen amount and allergenicity, but this has rarely been shown in the wider environment. The present analysis of a continental-scale pollen data set reveals an increasing trend in the yearly amount of airborne pollen for many taxa in Europe, which is more pronounced in urban than semi-rural/rural areas. Climate change may contribute to these changes, however increased temperatures do not appear to be a major influencing factor. Instead, we suggest the anthropogenic rise of atmospheric CO levels may be influential.

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ER -

Changes to airborne pollen counts across Europe

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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