TY  - JOUR
AB  - The advent of automatic pollen and fungal spore monitoring over the past few years has brought about a paradigm change. The provision of real-time information at high temporal resolution opens the door to a wide range of improvements in terms of the products and services made available to a widening range of end-users and stakeholders. As technology and methods mature, it is essential to properly quantify the impact automatic monitoring has on the different end-user domains to better understand the real long-term benefits to society. In this paper, we focus the main domains where such impacts are expected, using Europe as a basis to provide qualitative estimates and to describe research needs to better quantify impacts in future. This will, in part, also serve to justify further investment and help to expand monitoring networks.
AU  - Tummon, F.*
AU  - Adams-Groom, B.*
AU  - Antunes, C.M.*
AU  - Bruffaerts, N.*
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
AU  - Cariñanos, P.*
AU  - Celenk, S.*
AU  - Choël, M.*
AU  - Clot, B.*
AU  - Cristofori, A.*
AU  - Crouzy, B.*
AU  - Damialis, A.*
AU  - Fernández, A.R.*
AU  - González, D.F.*
AU  - Galán, C.*
AU  - Gedda, B.*
AU  - Gehrig, R.*
AU  - Gonzalez-Alonso, M.
AU  - Gottardini, E.*
AU  - Gros-Daillon, J.*
AU  - Hajkova, L.*
AU  - O’Connor, D.*
AU  - Östensson, P.*
AU  - Oteros, J.*
AU  - Pauling, A.*
AU  - Pérez-Badía, R.*
AU  - Rodinkova, V.*
AU  - Rodríguez-Rajo, F.J.*
AU  - Ribeiro, H.*
AU  - Sauliene, I.*
AU  - Sikoparija, B.*
AU  - Skjøth, C.A.*
AU  - Spanu, A.*
AU  - Sofiev, M.*
AU  - Sozinova, O.*
AU  - Srnec, L.*
AU  - Visez, N.*
AU  - de Weger, L.A.*
C1  - 70481
C2  - 55577
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 57–75
TI  - The role of automatic pollen and fungal spore monitoring across major end-user domains.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 40
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2024
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The Hirst-type pollen trap (1952) is the most common device for aerobiological measurements of pollen and fungal spores in ambient air. In the 1960s the in-line flowmeter was removed and studies since then showed considerable variability in the airflow pumped through the instrument when using hand-held rotameters with an internal airflow resistance to adjust flowrates. To avoid this problem, our study compared the variability of airflow rates of Hirst-type traps when using commercially-available low-resistance airflow meters (heat anemometers) at various timescales. Experiments were conducted in Munich (Germany) and Payerne (Switzerland), using 4 different easyFlux® instruments and 6 Hirst-type pollen traps. Measurements were taken on an hourly basis from dawn to dusk at both locations, and in addition at Payerne, weekly observations over a period of one year. When using the common hand-held rotameters (with airflow resistance) the flow was 28.3% lower than with resistance-free flowmeter (i.e., measured 10 L/min which was in reality 12.8 L/min). The coefficient of variation between the four easyFlux® devices ranged from 0.32% to 1.55% over one day and from 2.88% to 8.17% over an entire year. Some of the traps showed surprising flow variations during the day. Furthermore, flowrates deviated more when measurements were made at the point where the double-sided tape is behind the orifice than elsewhere on the drum. The measurements away from this point are representative of the flow rates for most of the period of operation and flow calibration should thus be carried out away from this point, contrary to the current procedure.
AU  - Suarez-Suarez, M.
AU  - Maya-Manzano, J.M.
AU  - Clot, B.*
AU  - Graber, M.J.*
AU  - Sallin, C.*
AU  - Tummon, F.*
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
C1  - 67510
C2  - 53601
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 143–148
TI  - Accuracy of a hand-held resistance-free flowmeters for flow adjustments of Hirst-Type pollen traps.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 39
IS  - 1
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2023
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - During an international campaign organized in Munich (Germany) in 2021 to test the performance of automatic pollen traps, we ran four manual Hirst-type pollen traps in parallel. All 4 Hirst-type pollen traps were set and monitored on a weekly basis for the entire campaign to 10 L/min using the same standard hand-held rotameter. Afterwards, a hand-held heat-wire anemometer (easyFlux®) was used additionally to obtain the correct flow without internal resistance. Uncorrected pollen concentrations were 26.5% (hourly data) and 21.0% (daily data) higher than those obtained after correction with the easyFlux®. After mathematical flow correction, the average coefficient of variation between the four Hirst traps was 42.6% and 16.5% (hourly and daily averages, respectively) for birch and 36.8% and 16.8% (hourly and daily averages, respectively) for grasses. When using the correct flow of each pollen trap (i.e. the resistance free anemometer measured flow), for hourly values, the median standard deviation across the traps for the eight pollen types was reduced by 28.2% (p < 0.001) compared to the uncorrected data. For daily values, a significant decrease in the median standard deviation (21.6%) between traps was observed for 7 out of 8 of the pollen types, (p < 0.05 or lower). We therefore recommend continuing to calibrate Hirst-type pollen traps with standard hand-held rotameters to avoid changing the impacting characteristics of the instruments, but simultaneously also measure with resistance-free flow meters to be able to apply flow corrections to the final pollen concentrations reported. This method improved the accuracy of the final results.
AU  - Triviño, M.
AU  - Maya-Manzano, J.M.
AU  - Tummon, F.*
AU  - Clot, B.*
AU  - Grewling, L.*
AU  - Schmidt-Weber, C.B.
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
C1  - 68168
C2  - 53612
SP  - 257-273
TI  - Variability between Hirst-type pollen traps is reduced by resistance-free flow adjustment.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 39
IS  - 2
PY  - 2023
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The article “Variability between Hirst-type pollen traps is reduced by resistance-free flow adjustment”, written by M. M. Triviño, J. M. Maya-Manzano, F. Tummon, B. Clot, Ł. Grewling, C. Schmidt-Weber and J. Buters, was originally published Online First without Open Access. After publication in volume 39, issue 2, page 257–273 the author decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed to © The Author(s) 2023 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. The original article has been corrected.
AU  - Triviño, M.
AU  - Maya-Manzano, J.M.
AU  - Tummon, F.*
AU  - Clot, B.*
AU  - Grewling, Ł.*
AU  - Schmidt-Weber, C.B.
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
C1  - 68402
C2  - 53890
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 389-390
TI  - Correction to: Variability between Hirst-type pollen traps is reduced by resistance-free flow adjustment (Aerobiologia, (2023), 39, 2, (257-273), 10.1007/s10453-023-09790-x).
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 39
IS  - 3
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2023
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Pollen monitoring has traditionally been carried out using manual methods first developed in the early 1950s. Although this technique has been recently standardised, it suffers from several drawbacks, notably data usually only being available with a delay of 3–9 days and usually delivered at a daily resolution. Several automatic instruments have come on to the market over the past few years, with more new devices also under development. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of all available and developing automatic instruments, how they measure, how they identify airborne pollen, what impacts measurement quality, as well as what potential there is for further advancement in the field of bioaerosol monitoring.
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
AU  - Clot, B.*
AU  - Galán, C.*
AU  - Gehrig, R.*
AU  - Gilge, S.*
AU  - Hentges, F.*
AU  - O’Connor, D.*
AU  - Sikoparija, B.*
AU  - Skjoth, C.*
AU  - Tummon, F.*
AU  - Adams-Groom, B.*
AU  - Antunes, C.M.*
AU  - Bruffaerts, N.*
AU  - Celenk, S.*
AU  - Crouzy, B.*
AU  - Guillaud, G.*
AU  - Hajkova, L.*
AU  - Seliger, A.K.*
AU  - Oliver, G.*
AU  - Ribeiro, H.*
AU  - Rodinkova, V.*
AU  - Saarto, A.*
AU  - Sauliene, I.*
AU  - Sozinova, O.*
AU  - Stjepanovic, B.*
C1  - 65841
C2  - 52927
TI  - Automatic detection of airborne pollen: an overview.
JO  - Aerobiologia
PY  - 2022
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Respiratory allergies triggered by pollen allergens represent a significant health concern to the Irish public. Up to now, Ireland has largely refrained from participating in long-term aerobiological studies. Recently, pollen monitoring has commenced in several sampling locations around Ireland. The first results of the pollen monitoring campaigns for Dublin (urban) and Carlow (rural) concerning the period 2017–2019 and 2018–2019, respectively, are presented herein. Additional unpublished pollen data from 1978–1980 and, 2010–2011 were also incorporated in creating the first pollen calendar for Dublin. During the monitoring period over 60 pollen types were identified with an average Annual Pollen Integral (APIn) of 32,217 Pollen × day/m3 for Dublin and 78,411 Pollen × day/m3 for Carlow. The most prevalent pollen types in Dublin were: Poaceae (32%), Urticaceae (29%), Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (11%), Betula (10%), Quercus (4%), Pinus (3%), Fraxinus (2%), Alnus (2%) and Platanus (1%). The predominant pollen types in Carlow were identified as Poaceae (70%), Urticaceae (12%), Betula (10%), Quercus (2%), Fraxinus (1%) and Pinus (1%). These prevalent pollen types increased in annual pollen concentration in both locations from 2018 to 2019 except for Fraxinus. Although higher pollen concentrations were observed for the Carlow (rural) site a greater variety of pollen types were identified for the Dublin (urban) site. The general annual trend in the pollen season began with the release of tree pollen in early spring, followed by the release of grass and herbaceous pollen which dominated the summer months with the annual pollen season coming to an end in October. This behaviour was illustrated for 21 different pollen types in the Dublin pollen calendar. The correlation between ambient pollen concentration and meteorological parameters was also examined and differed greatly depending on the location and study year. A striking feature was a substantial fraction of the recorded pollen sampled in Dublin did not correlate with the prevailing wind directions. However, using non-parametric wind regression, specific source regions could be determined such as Alnus originating from the Southeast, Betula originating from the East and Poaceae originating from the Southwest.
AU  - Markey, E.*
AU  - Clancy, J.H.*
AU  - Martínez-Bracero, M.*
AU  - Maya-Manzano, J.M.
AU  - Smith, M.*
AU  - Skjøth, C.*
AU  - Dowding, P.*
AU  - Sarda-Estève, R.*
AU  - Baisnée, D.*
AU  - Donnelly, A.*
AU  - McGillicuddy, E.*
AU  - Sewell, G.*
AU  - O’Connor, D.J.*
C1  - 65844
C2  - 52937
SP  - 343-366
TI  - A comprehensive aerobiological study of the airborne pollen in the Irish environment.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 38
IS  - 3
PY  - 2022
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Airborne grass (Poaceae) pollen measurements are used in public warning systems to inform people about the risk of allergic symptoms. However, there is no consensus about which exact thresholds of pollen concentrations provoke the allergic symptoms. The aim of this study was to review the relevant scientific information on the relationship between grass pollen concentrations and the occurrence of emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions (HA), drug consumption and allergic symptoms. Literature search was conducted by experts’ consultation and snowball strategy. Studies meeting the criteria for inclusion were assessed regarding their risk of bias (RoB). A high RoB resulted in exclusion of the study from data synthesis. Extensive data were extracted and qualitatively compared. The review is registered in PROSPERO. 32 Studies were eligible while 18 showed a low RoB and were qualitatively synthesised. Emergency department visits and hospital admissions were mostly investigated. Threshold values of 10 grains/m3 and 12 grains/m3 were reported for ED visits and HA. Evidence exists that an increase of 10 grains/m3 of air leads to a significant increase in adverse health outcomes. Especially at a three-day lag, adverse health effects were shown. Variations in exposure and outcome measurement make the definition of pollen thresholds difficult. As a consequence, no defined pollen threshold values could be identified. Studies with uniform exposure measures and statistical methods are necessary to gain a better understanding of the impact of grass pollen on human health. Determining personal thresholds could be beneficial for affected people.
AU  - Becker, J.
AU  - Steckling-Muschack, N.*
AU  - Mittermeier, I.*
AU  - Bergmann, K.C.*
AU  - Böse-O’Reilly, S.*
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
AU  - Damialis, A.*
AU  - Heigl, K.*
AU  - Heinrich, J.*
AU  - Kabesch, M.*
AU  - Mertes, H.*
AU  - Nowak, D.*
AU  - Schutzmeier, P.*
AU  - Walser-Reichenbach, S.M.*
AU  - Weinberger, A.*
AU  - Korbely, C.*
AU  - Herr, C.*
AU  - Heinze, S.*
AU  - Kutzora, S.*
C1  - 62672
C2  - 50924
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
TI  - Threshold values of grass pollen (Poaceae) concentrations and increase in emergency department visits, hospital admissions, drug consumption and allergic symptoms in patients with allergic rhinitis: A systematic review.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 37
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2021
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - This study presents the results of a Europe-wide training and Quality Control (QC) exercise carried out within the framework of the European Aerobiology Society's QC Working Group. The main aim of this exercise was to examine the feasibility of carrying out a QC exercise for fungal spore monitoring in Europe, using a similar methodology to the one previously used for pollen. The QC survey was conducted in two parts: (1) Coordinators of national and regional aerobiological networks in Europe involved in the monitoring of atmospheric fungal spores were invited to complete a questionnaire survey related to their network and asked whether they were interested in taking part in an external inter-laboratory QC exercise; (2) Participating networks performed an inter-laboratory ring test with the same sample slide in order to determine the reproducibility of identifying and counting two fungal spore taxa (Alternaria and Epicoccum) in air samples collected by a Hirst-type volumetric spore trap. Participants were instructed to read five separate longitudinal transects in the "effective collecting area" of the slide. Reproducibility of analysis was determined following the method previously used in the European Aerobiology Society's QC exercises for pollen. Thirty-two counters from 16 national or regional networks in Europe participated in the QC exercise. Coefficients of Variation (CV%) ranged from 23.0 to 22.5 when reading one transect and from 14.0 to 16.0 when reading five transects for Alternaria and Epicoccum, respectively. Considering a CV% of 30 as the limit for fungal spores, no significant differences were observed between the absolute errors from two, three, four and five transects. The only significant difference was between one and five transects. We recommend that fungal spore analysis should be carried out on about 5% of the slide (two transects in this study) because results were not significantly different to five transects.
AU  - Galán, C.*
AU  - Smith, M.*
AU  - Damialis, A.
AU  - Frenguelli, G.*
AU  - Gehrig, R.*
AU  - Grinn-Gofroń, A.*
AU  - Kasprzyk, I.*
AU  - Magyar, D.*
AU  - Oteros, J.*
AU  - Sauliene, I.*
AU  - Thibaudon, M.*
AU  - Sikoparija, B.*
C1  - 61616
C2  - 50353
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 351–361
TI  - Airborne fungal spore monitoring: Between analyst proficiency testing.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 37
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2021
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Airborne allergenic pollen impact the health of a great part of the global population. Under climate change conditions, the abundance of airborne pollen has been rising dramatically and so is the effect on sensitized individuals. The first line of allergy management is allergen avoidance, which, to date, is by rule achieved via forecasting of daily pollen concentrations. The aim of this study was to elaborate on 3-hourly predictive models, one of the very few to the best of our knowledge, attempting to forecast pollen concentration based on near-real-time automatic pollen measurements. The study was conducted in Augsburg, Germany, during four years (2016–2019) focusing on Betula and Poaceae pollen, the most abundant and allergenic in temperate climates. ARIMA and dynamic regression models were employed, as well as machine learning techniques, viz. artificial neural networks and neural network autoregression models. Air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, air pressure, sunshine duration, diffuse radiation, and wind speed were additionally considered for the development of the models. It was found that air temperature and precipitation were the most significant variables for the prediction of airborne pollen concentrations. At such fine temporal resolution, our forecasting models performed well showing their ability to explain most of the variability of pollen concentrations for both taxa. However, predictive power of Betula forecasting model was higher achieving R  up to 0.62, whereas Poaceae up to 0.55. Neural autoregression was superior in forecasting Betula pollen concentrations, whereas, for Poaceae, seasonal ARIMA performed best. The good performance of seasonal ARIMA in describing variability of pollen concentrations of both examined taxa suggests an important role of plants’ phenology in observed pollen abundance. The present study provides novel insight on per-hour forecasts to be used in real-time mobile apps by pollen allergic patients. Despite the huge need for real-time, short-term predictions for everyday clinical practice, extreme weather events, like in the year 2019 in our case, still comprise an obstacle toward highly performing forecasts at such fine timescales, highlighting that there is still a way to go to this direction. 2
AU  - Muzalyova, A.*
AU  - Brunner, J.O.*
AU  - Traidl-Hoffmann, C.
AU  - Damialis, A.
C1  - 61664
C2  - 50374
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 425–446
TI  - Forecasting Betula and Poaceae airborne pollen concentrations on a 3-hourly resolution in Augsburg, Germany: Toward automatically generated, real-time predictions.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 37
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2021
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Pollen threshold values used in public warning systems are intended to inform people of the risk of developing allergy symptoms. However, there is no consensus about which pollen concentrations provoke allergy symptoms. The aim of this systematic review was the evaluation of studies investigating the relationship between pollen concentrations (alder, ash, birch, hazel, mugwort and ragweed) and the number of cases in which participants visited a doctor, drug consumption and allergy symptoms. This systematic literature review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019112369). A PubMed search was applied and enriched by consultation with experts and a snowball strategy. The included studies were checked for risk of bias (RoB), and extensive data were extracted and compared. Of 511 studies, 22 were eligible according to the previously established inclusion criteria, and 17 from these showed a low RoB. The strongest evidence was reported for ash (Fraxinus) pollen, where an increase of number of doctor’s visits at an interquartile range (IQR) of 18–28 grains/m  was detected by three studies. Five studies about birch (Betula) pollen showed a threshold value of 45 grains/m  for increased drug consumption. The evidence of a threshold value was limited for alder (Alnus), hazel (Corylus), mugwort (Artemisia) and ragweed (Ambrosia) pollen. The inconsistent results concerning all types of pollen, except ash pollen, can be the result of multiple factors, e.g., age, gender, allergen content of pollen and individual sensitivity. These influencing factors should be investigated more closely in future research.
AU  - Steckling-Muschack, N.*
AU  - Mertes, H.*
AU  - Mittermeier, I.*
AU  - Schutzmeier, P.*
AU  - Becker, J.
AU  - Bergmann, K.C.*
AU  - Böse-O′Reilly, S.*
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
AU  - Damialis, A.
AU  - Heinrich, J.*
AU  - Kabesch, M.*
AU  - Nowak, D.*
AU  - Walser-Reichenbach, S.M.*
AU  - Weinberger, A.*
AU  - Zamfir, M.*
AU  - Herr, C.*
AU  - Kutzora, S.*
AU  - Heinze, S.*
C1  - 62148
C2  - 50668
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 395–424
TI  - A systematic review of threshold values of pollen concentrations for symptoms of allergy.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 37
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2021
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Cupressaceae pollen is one of the major airborne allergens of the Mediterranean region and in other regions around the world. Pollen production of these species causes considerable allergic problems during winter, being this type of pollen the most abundant in this period of the year. This work aims to relate phenology, meteorology and airborne pollen records in these species. Aerobiological sampling was carried out in Badajoz (SW Spain) from 2016 to 2018 using Hirst-type volumetric sampler. Pollination phenology was studied in 50 specimens, ten ofCupressus macrocarpa, ten ofCupressus arizonica, 15 ofCupressus sempervirensand 15 ofPlatycladus orientaliswith a frequency of 3-4 days on average during the months of January to March. In all cases, five specimens were in the surrounding of pollen station and at least five of them 4 km apart. For phenology, BBCH methodology was used. Daily data for the whole period and hourly data for the last 2 years were analyzed, including pollen records and meteorology. Comparison between pollen records and sources distribution was assessed. Main pollen season lasted on average 91 (89-94) days. In all the years, the peaks of phenology of the different species can be matched with peaks of airborne pollen records, considering that rain can prevent a more precise correspondence.
AU  - Monroy-Colín, A.*
AU  - Maya-Manzano, J.M.
AU  - Silva-Palacios, I.*
AU  - Tormo-Molina, R.*
AU  - Pecero-Casimiro, R.*
AU  - Gonzalo-Garijo, Á.*
AU  - Fernández-Rodríguez, S.*
C1  - 59301
C2  - 48766
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 459–479
TI  - Phenology of Cupressaceae urban infrastructure related to its pollen content and meteorological variables.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 36
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2020
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Pollen allergies are one of the most important problems among respiratory diseases in today's society. The creation and development of aerobiological information tools are useful to provide information to patients and doctors. In this work, we analysed the pollen spectrum of Extremadura to generate pollen calendars for Badajoz, Caceres, Don Benito, Plasencia and Zafra. Additionally, we analysed regional pollen gradients and plotted the main pollen season (MPS) characteristics (start date, peak date, end date and duration) in each city. In Extremadura, 35-40 different types of pollen are frequently identified, the most abundant of which (in decreasing order) belong toQuercus, Poaceae,Olea, Cupressaceae,Platanus,PlantagoandPinus. The dates when the highest accumulation of pollen occurs in the air are from mid-April to the end of May in Badajoz and Caceres; from mid-March to early June for Don Benito; from mid-April to early June for Plasencia; and from mid-April to 10 June for Zafra. Moreover, it could be confirmed that in the Extremadura region, the start date and the peak date occur earlier in the cities in the south of the region and that the duration of the pollen season is longer in these cities. The differences observed among cities may be due to the varieties of urban species and their management (pruning and irrigation), the influence of peri-urban landscapes, medium- and long-distance pollen transport and climate. The representation and geolocation of pollen calendars obtained using geographic gradients provide information in a simple, fast and visual way and can be of great interest to allergic patients and health professionals.
AU  - Pecero-Casimiro, R.*
AU  - Maya-Manzano, J.M.
AU  - Fernández-Rodríguez, S.*
AU  - Tormo-Molina, R.*
AU  - Silva-Palacios, I.*
AU  - Monroy-Colín, A.*
AU  - Gonzalo-Garijo, Á.*
C1  - 60340
C2  - 49321
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 731–748
TI  - Pollen calendars and regional gradients as information tools in the Extremadura pollen monitoring network (SW Spain).
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 36
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2020
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - From an allergological point of view, Poaceae pollen is one of the most important types of pollen that the population is exposed to in the ambient environment. There are several studies on intra-diurnal patterns in grass pollen concentrations and agreement on the high variability. However, the method for analysing the different patterns is not yet well established. The aim of the present study is therefore to examine the method of pattern analysis by statistical clustering, and to relate the proposed patterns to time of season and meteorological variables at two highly different biogeographical locations: Cordoba, Spain, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Airborne pollen is collected by Hirst-type volumetric spore traps and counted using an optical microscope at both sites. The counts were converted to 2-h concentrations, and a new method based on cluster analysis was applied with the aim of determining the most frequent diurnal patterns in pollen concentrations and their dependencies on site, season and meteorological variables. Three different well-defined diurnal patterns were identified at both locations. The most frequent pattern in Copenhagen was associated with days having peak pollen concentrations in the evening (maximum between 18 and 20h), whereas the most frequent pattern at Cordoba was associated with days having peak pollen concentrations in the afternoon (maximum between 14 and 16h). These three patterns account for 70% of days with no rain and pollen concentrations above 20grainsm(-3). The most frequent pattern accounts for 40% and 57% of the days in Cordoba and Copenhagen, respectively. The analysis clearly shows the great variation in pollen concentration pattern, albeit a dominating pattern can be found. It was not possible to explain all the differences in the patterns by the meteorological variables when examined individually. Clustering method is estimated to be an appropriate methodology for studying aerobiological phenomena with high variability.
AU  - Alcázar, P.*
AU  - Ørby, P.V.*
AU  - Oteros, J.
AU  - Skjøth, C.*
AU  - Hertel, O.*
AU  - Galán, C.*
C1  - 56086
C2  - 46800
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 269-281
TI  - Cluster analysis of variations in the diurnal pattern of grass pollen concentrations in Northern Europe (Copenhagen) and Southern Europe (Cordoba).
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 35
IS  - 2
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2019
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - To examine the applicability of the recently proposed criteria by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) for pollen season (PS) definition, we applied them to a 30-year time series of daily concentrations of cypress (Cupressaceae), olive (Oleaceae), and grass (Poaceae) airborne pollen from a Mediterranean city, Thessaloniki, Greece. These criteria led to PS definition for every year in the case of grasses, but they did not result to a defined pollen season in each year for 10% of the examined period in the case of cypress (Cupressaceae) and even for 60% in the case of olive (Oleaceae). Application of the EAACI thresholds to data series of Thessaloniki shows the need for an accurate analysis and revision of the symptom thresholds for PS definition for olive and cypress in the Mediterranean area. Given that the PS, as defined after the EAACI criteria, corresponds to only the part of the PS inducing allergy symptoms, a different term 'allergy symptom-inducing pollen season' is proposed so as to avoid confusion but also make clear that, depending on the purpose of the study, different criteria may be used for PS definition.
AU  - Karatzas, K.*
AU  - Tsiamis, A.*
AU  - Charalampopoulos, A.*
AU  - Damialis, A.
AU  - Vokou, D.*
C1  - 56932
C2  - 47438
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 659-669
TI  - Pollen season identification for three pollen taxa in Thessaloniki, Greece: A 30-year retrospective analysis.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 35
IS  - 4
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2019
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Allergies are increasing in prevalence worldwide, with socioeconomic impacts and effects on quality of life. The aim of this study was to explore the health behavior and the utilization of different treatment options via questionnaires and to investigate for relationships of the above with socioeconomic factors. This cross-sectional survey was carried out among pollen allergic subjects in 2016, using questionnaires. A total of 679 allergics participated in the study (61.2% females). Their average age was 26.8 +/- 8.8years. Their symptom severity was 6.1 +/- 1.9, measured on a 10-step scale and symptoms lasted for 9.0 +/- 6.8weeks during pollen season. Of all allergics, 9.1% were not aware of the causative agent of their allergy and 17.4% had never undergone allergy testing. Symptoms, especially in females, had strong impact on social life, everyday routines and sleep quality. Almost half of the participants treated their allergy without medical supervision, while only 32.3% sought medical support. Nevertheless, three quarters reported self-management of their allergies with oral antihistamines. Compared to males, females sought significantly more medical support, medications and allergen avoidance strategies. Knowledge about allergy increased the likelihood of treatment under supervision of a medical expert than no treatment, as well as symptom severity and interaction between female gender and symptom severity. The attitude of not considering allergy as a serious disease significantly reduced the likelihood of undergoing specific immunotherapy. This survey not only highlights the negative impact of pollen allergies on everyday life of allergics, but also that allergies are often neglected and untreated because of their trivialization by allergic subjects themselves.
AU  - Muzalyova, A.*
AU  - Brunner, J.O.*
AU  - Traidl-Hoffmann, C.
AU  - Damialis, A.
C1  - 55316
C2  - 46238
CY  - Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands
SP  - 327–341
TI  - Pollen allergy and health behavior: Patients trivializing their disease.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 35
IS  - 2
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2019
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Standardisation of methods of pollen monitoring networks is vital for data quality. In pollen monitoring networks in Europe, the Hirst-type trap is standard. Hirst traps are calibrated with handheld rotameters. We detected a systematic error in the flow rate calibrated by these standard handheld rotameters. We measured the flow rate of 19 Hirst traps from three commercial brands during calibration but also during monitoring. We used three different rotameters supplied by the manufacturers of the traps, respectively. The actual air flow rate was measured using an electronic heat anemometer with negligible air flow resistance. After calibration to 10 l/min, the rotameter was removed, which led to a significant increase in the flow rate in the range of 10.5–17.2 l/min, a systematic error between 5 and 72%. No significant difference was found between the different commercial trap brands. The analysis revealed that the error depended on the type of the rotameter and the individual trap. The error may be explained by the additional air flow resistance of each rotameter. The total resistance of the system—trap plus rotameter—is higher during calibration when the rotameter is held on the inlet compared to the routine monitoring without the rotameter. Depending on the characteristic curve of the suction pump in the trap (fan), the air flow rate increases to values considerably higher than 10 l/min. Thus, monitoring is done under a higher flow rate than that was calibrated. In order to obtain comparable data within a monitoring network, a solution for correction of this systematic error seems advisable, preferably in cooperation with the manufacturers.
AU  - Oteros, J.
AU  - Buters, J.T.M.
AU  - Laven, G.*
AU  - Röseler, S.*
AU  - Wachter, R.*
AU  - Schmidt-Weber, C.B.
AU  - Hofmann, F.*
C1  - 50465
C2  - 42262
CY  - Dordrecht
SP  - 201-210
TI  - Errors in determining the flow rate of Hirst-type pollen traps.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 33
IS  - 2
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2017
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The European Commission Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action FA1203 “SMARTER” aims to make recommendations for the sustainable management of Ambrosia across Europe and for monitoring its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The goal of the present study is to provide a baseline for spatial and temporal variations in airborne Ambrosia pollen in Europe that can be used for the management and evaluation of this noxious plant. The study covers the full range of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. distribution over Europe (39°N–60°N; 2°W–45°E). Airborne Ambrosia pollen data for the principal flowering period of Ambrosia (August–September) recorded during a 10-year period (2004–2013) were obtained from 242 monitoring sites. The mean sum of daily average airborne Ambrosia pollen and the number of days that Ambrosia pollen was recorded in the air were analysed. The mean and standard deviation (SD) were calculated regardless of the number of years included in the study period, while trends are based on those time series with 8 or more years of data. Trends were considered significant at p < 0.05. There were few significant trends in the magnitude and frequency of atmospheric Ambrosia pollen (only 8% for the mean sum of daily average Ambrosia pollen concentrations and 14% for the mean number of days Ambrosia pollen were recorded in the air). The direction of any trends varied locally and reflected changes in sources of the pollen, either in size or in distance from the monitoring station. Pollen monitoring is important for providing an early warning of the expansion of this invasive and noxious plant.
AU  - Sikoparija, B.*
AU  - Skjøth, C.A.*
AU  - Celenk, S.*
AU  - Testoni, S.*
AU  - Abramidze, T.*
AU  - Alm Kübler, K.*
AU  - Belmonte, J.*
AU  - Berger, U.*
AU  - Bonini, M.*
AU  - Charalampopoulos, A.*
AU  - Damialis, A.
AU  - Clot, B.*
AU  - Dahl, A.*
AU  - de Weger, L.A.*
AU  - Gehrig, R.*
AU  - Hendrickx, M.*
AU  - Hoebeke, L.*
AU  - Ianovici, N.*
AU  - Kofol Seliger, A.*
AU  - Magyar, D.*
AU  - Mányoki, G.*
AU  - Milkovska, S.*
AU  - Myszkowska, D.*
AU  - Paldy, A.*
AU  - Pashley, C.H.*
AU  - Rasmussen, K.*
AU  - Ritenberga, O.*
AU  - Rodinkova, V.*
AU  - Rybníček, O.*
AU  - Shalaboda, V.*
AU  - Sauliene, I.*
AU  - Scevkova, J.*
AU  - Stjepanovic, B.*
AU  - Thibaudon, M.*
AU  - Verstraeten, C.*
AU  - Vokou, D.*
AU  - Yankova, R.*
AU  - Smith, M.*
C1  - 50518
C2  - 42308
CY  - Dordrecht
SP  - 181-189
TI  - Spatial and temporal variations in airborne Ambrosia pollen in Europe.
JO  - Aerobiologia
VL  - 33
IS  - 2
PB  - Springer
PY  - 2016
SN  - 0393-5965
ER  -