Ambient air. Sampling and analysis of airborne pollen grains and fungal spores for allergy networks. Volumetric Hirst method

Many airborne pollen grains and fungal spores are important biopollutants responsible for human respiratory allergy. In the conditions of România the most important cause of pollinosis is allergenic pollen of some deciduous trees as well as grasses and weeds. The measurements of pollen concentration in the aeroplankton of Timişoara were carried out in 2003 by the volumetric method. The highest concentrations are noted in April and August. A total of 23 types of pollen taxa were recorded in the air of the study area in the 2003-year: Acer, Alnus, Ambrosia, Artemisia, Betula, Carpinus, Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae, Corylus, Fraxinus, Juglans, Morus, Pinaceae, Platanus, Plantago, Populus, Poaceae, Rumex, Salix, Quercus, Taxaceae/Cupressaceae, Tilia, Urtica, Ulmus. The highest values of annual total of pollen grains in a group of trees were reached by Populus and Betula, as well as in a group of grasses and weeds – Ambrosia, Urtica and Poaceae. Trees pollen predominantly contributed to the total pollen sum with a percentage of 53.56%, followed by herbs 37.54% and grasses 8.9%.

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Height and hourly variations in the concentration of airborne pollen grains and fungal spores in Sosnowiec (Poland)

Alergoprofil ◽

10.24292/01.ap.161120220 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 21-23

Author(s):

Katarzyna Dąbrowska-Zapart ◽

Tadeusz Niedźwiedź

Keyword(s):

Airborne Pollen ◽

Fungal Spores ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Pollen Grains ◽

Ground Level ◽

Quantitative Composition ◽

Measuring Point ◽

Spearman’S Rank Correlation ◽

Wind Speed Maximum

The aim of the work was to compare the qualitative and quantitative composition of aeroplankton in Sosnowiec (Poland) at three heights. The research was conducted on July 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2018 with the help of three Burkard spore traps: one stationary and two portable ones. The analyses were carried out at an altitude of 83 m, 15 m and at the ground level. Aerobiological data was recorded every hour and the collected pollen grains and fungal spores were determined later on. The relationships between individual meteorological conditions and different features of the alder pollen season were determined using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. The research has shown that the greatest fluctuations in the daily pollen count occurred at the lowest measuring point, i.e. at the ground level. The largest part of the determined palynomorphs were fungal spores, the most numerous of which was Cladosporium, followed by Alternaria, Epicoccum and Botrytis. Statistical analysis showed that the highest concentrations of fungal spores and plant pollen grains were influenced by wind speed, maximum gust of wind and solar radiation.

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Airborne pollen and spores in Melbourne

Australian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1071/bt9660049 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 49 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

E Derrick

Keyword(s):

Airborne Pollen ◽

Seasonal Pattern ◽

Fungal Spores ◽

Pollen Grains ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Early Summer ◽

High Concentration ◽

Long Period ◽

High Concentrations ◽

Airborne Pollen And Spores

The incidence, on exposed slides, of pollen grains and spores from the atmosphere of Melbourne is recorded. Observations over 4½ years show that 30 types of pollen appear regularly each year and few of these are in great abundance. The highest concentration of pollen is in the period August-December and the lowest concentration in the period Aprii-May. In eariy spring, pollen grains from conifers and deciduous trees are most numerous, and in later spring and summer those from grasses and plantains predominate. Variations in weather conditions produce variations in the duration and concentration of the pollen cloud, both annually and within the season. High concentrations of fungal spores, at times exceeding those of pollen grains, occur during late spring and early summer, but follow a less clearly defined seasonal pattern than the pollen cloud. Pollen normally transferred by insects may at times become airborne in significant concentration. Grass pollen, because of its presence in the air over a long period and its high concentration during the Melbourne pollinosis season, must be considered important in relation to seasonal allergy. Other types of pollen and fungal spores, which are in high concentration for a shorter period or in less quantity for a long period, may also contribute to allergic symptoms.

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Airborne pollen grains of Visakhapatnam: A combined field and air sampling study

Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences - Section A Part 3 Mathematical sciences ◽

10.1007/bf03053359 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 91 (4) ◽

Author(s):

A Janaki Bai ◽

C Subba Reddi

Keyword(s):

Airborne Pollen ◽

Air Sampling ◽

Pollen Grains

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Airborne pollen spectrum and hay fever type prevalence in Vinnitsa, central Ukraine

Acta Agrobotanica ◽

10.5586/aa.2015.037 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 383-389 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Victoria Valeriivna Rodinkova

Keyword(s):

Woody Plants ◽

Airborne Pollen ◽

Pollen Grains ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Hay Fever ◽

Urban Atmosphere ◽

Pollen Spectrum ◽

Airborne Allergen ◽

Pollen Types ◽

Gravimetric Sampling

The article deals with the main pollen spectrum in relation to patients’ sensitivity determined in the ambient air of Vinnitsa city located in central Ukraine. The study performed by gravimetric sampling in the years 1999–2000 and by volumetric sampling in the years 2009–2014 showed that Urtica, Betula, Pinus, Alnus, Fraxinus, Ambrosia, Artemisia, Juglans, Carpinus, Populus, Quercus, Acer, Salix, Poaceae, Amarathaceae, and Polygonaceae pollen grains are prevalent among the airborne allergen types in the urban atmosphere. The principal pollen types remain the same but over time their quantities have changed. The relative abundance of Carpinus and Amaranthaceae airborne pollen decreased while the fraction of Urtica pollen increased in the last decade. From 50 to 69 pollen types were determined in the ambient air depending on the season. From 24 to 27 pollen types represented woody plants and from 22 to 46 pollen types belonged to the herbaceous plants. A considerable decrease in herbal pollen types is noted in the Vinnitsa air at present.It was shown that children were sensitive to weed pollen grains, including ragweed, mugwort, and grass, while adults were more sensitive to tree and grass pollen grains. Further studies of the pollen spectrum in the ambient air of this city are required in order to control the hay fever symptoms.

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A 3-year airborne pollen and fungal spores record in San Carlos de Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina

Aerobiologia ◽

10.1007/s10453-006-9037-8 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 247-257 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Maria Martha Bianchi ◽

Susana Ester Olabuenaga

Keyword(s):

Airborne Pollen ◽

Fungal Spores ◽

San Carlos

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Neural networks for increased accuracy of allergenic pollen monitoring

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-90433-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marcel Polling ◽

Chen Li ◽

Lu Cao ◽

Fons Verbeek ◽

Letty A. de Weger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Networks ◽

Airborne Pollen ◽

Pollen Grains ◽

Allergenic Pollen ◽

Herbarium Specimens ◽

Pollen Monitoring ◽

Pollen Concentrations ◽

Source Of Information ◽

Urticaceae Pollen

AbstractMonitoring of airborne pollen concentrations provides an important source of information for the globally increasing number of hay fever patients. Airborne pollen is traditionally counted under the microscope, but with the latest developments in image recognition methods, automating this process has become feasible. A challenge that persists, however, is that many pollen grains cannot be distinguished beyond the genus or family level using a microscope. Here, we assess the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to increase taxonomic accuracy for airborne pollen. As a case study we use the nettle family (Urticaceae), which contains two main genera (Urtica and Parietaria) common in European landscapes which pollen cannot be separated by trained specialists. While pollen from Urtica species has very low allergenic relevance, pollen from several species of Parietaria is severely allergenic. We collect pollen from both fresh as well as from herbarium specimens and use these without the often used acetolysis step to train the CNN model. The models show that unacetolyzed Urticaceae pollen grains can be distinguished with > 98% accuracy. We then apply our model on before unseen Urticaceae pollen collected from aerobiological samples and show that the genera can be confidently distinguished, despite the more challenging input images that are often overlain by debris. Our method can also be applied to other pollen families in the future and will thus help to make allergenic pollen monitoring more specific.

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