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Bayr, D. ; Plaza, M.P. ; Gilles, S.* ; Kolek, F.* ; Leier-Wirtz, V.* ; Traidl-Hoffmann, C. ; Damialis, A.*

Pollen long-distance transport associated with symptoms in pollen allergics on the German Alps: An old story with a new ending?

Sci. Total Environ. 881:163310 (2023)
Postprint DOI PMC
Open Access Green
Pollen grains are among the main causes of respiratory allergies worldwide and hence they are routinely monitored in urban environments. However, their sources can be located farther, outside cities' borders. So, the fundamental question remains as to how frequent longer-range pollen transport incidents are and if they may actually comprise high-risk allergy cases. The aim was to study the pollen exposure on a high-altitude location where only scarce vegetation exists, by biomonitoring airborne pollen and symptoms of grass pollen allergic individuals, locally. The research was carried out in 2016 in the alpine research station UFS, located at 2650 m height, on the Zugspitze Mountain in Bavaria, Germany. Airborne pollen was monitored by use of portable Hirst-type volumetric traps. As a case study, grass pollen-allergic human volunteers were registering their symptoms daily during the peak of the grass pollen season in 2016, during a 2-week stay on Zugspitze, 13-24 June. The possible origin of some pollen types was identified using back trajectory model HYSPLIT for 27 air mass backward trajectories up to 24 h. We found that episodes of high aeroallergen concentrations may occur even at such a high-altitude location. More than 1000 pollen grains m-3 of air were measured on the UFS within only 4 days. It was confirmed that the locally detected bioaerosols originated from at least Switzerland, and up to northwest France, even eastern American Continent, because of frequent long-distance transport. Such far-transported pollen may explain the observed allergic symptoms in sensitized individuals at a remarkable rate of 87 % during the study period. Long-distance transport of aeroallergens can cause allergic symptoms in sensitized individuals, as evidenced in a sparse-vegetation, low-exposure, 'low-risk' alpine environment. We strongly suggest that we need cross-border pollen monitoring to investigate long-distance pollen transport, as its occurrence seems both frequent and clinically relevant.
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Publikationstyp Artikel: Journalartikel
Dokumenttyp Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Korrespondenzautor
Schlagwörter Aerobiology ; Airborne Pollen ; Alpine Environment ; Climate Change ; Long-distance Transport ; Pollen Allergy; Range Transport; Ambrosia Pollen; Climate-change; Birch Pollen; Dispersion; Services; Example; Asthma; Season; Land
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0048-9697
e-ISSN 1879-1026
Zeitschrift Science of the Total Environment, The
Quellenangaben Band: 881, Heft: , Seiten: , Artikelnummer: 163310 Supplement: ,
Verlag Elsevier
Verlagsort Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nichtpatentliteratur Publikationen
Begutachtungsstatus Peer reviewed
Institut(e) Institute of Environmental Medicine (IEM)
Förderungen EU-COST Action ADOPT (New approaches in detection of pathogens and aeroallergens)
Bavarian Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection