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Zhaobin S, Yuxin Z, Xingqin A, Na G, Ziming L, Shuwen Z, Yinglin L, Wenxi R, Yaqin B, Jingyi X, Shihong L. Effects of airborne pollen on allergic rhinitis and asthma across different age groups in Beijing, China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:169215. [PMID: 38086478 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 12/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
In the context of global warming and rapid urbanization, pollen has become a significant public health concern for Chinese citizens. However, there is a paucity of epidemiological research on the impact of pollen on allergen-linked diseases, such as allergic rhinitis and asthma, in China. Using data from the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital between 2013 and 2019, which included allergic rhinitis and asthma incidence, meteorological records, and air pollution data, we employed a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) to examine the relationship between overall and type-specific pollen concentrations in relation to varying population exposures. We found that increased overall pollen concentrations significantly increased the risks of allergic rhinitis and asthma in diverse populations. Notably, the risk of allergic rhinitis was higher than that of asthma at equivalent pollen concentrations. Seasonal trends indicated that spring pollen peaks, primarily from trees, were associated with a lower risk of both allergic rhinitis and asthma than autumn peaks, predominantly from weeds. This study underscores the importance of identifying pollen species that pose heightened risks to different demographic groups across seasons, thereby providing targeted interventions for public health agencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sun Zhaobin
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
| | - Zhao Yuxin
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - An Xingqin
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Gao Na
- Department of Respiratoryand Critical Care Medicine, Yulin No. 2 Hospital, Yulin 719000, China; Department of Allergy, Yulin No.2 Hospital, Yulin 719000, China
| | - Li Ziming
- Beijing Weather Forecast Center, Beijing 100089, China
| | - Zhang Shuwen
- College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and College of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Liang Yinglin
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Ruan Wenxi
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Bu Yaqin
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xin Jingyi
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Li Shihong
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine and Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100020, China.
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Mills SA, Bousiotis D, Maya-Manzano JM, Tummon F, MacKenzie AR, Pope FD. Constructing a pollen proxy from low-cost Optical Particle Counter (OPC) data processed with Neural Networks and Random Forests. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 871:161969. [PMID: 36754323 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Pollen allergies affect a significant proportion of the global population, and this is expected to worsen in years to come. There is demand for the development of automated pollen monitoring systems. Low-cost Optical Particle Counters (OPCs) measure particulate matter and have attractive advantages of real-time high time resolution data and affordable costs. This study asks whether low-cost OPC sensors can be used for meaningful monitoring of airborne pollen. We employ a variety of methods, including supervised machine learning techniques, to construct pollen proxies from hourly-average OPC data and evaluate their performance, holding out 40 % of observations to test the proxies. The most successful methods are supervised machine learning Neural Network (NN) and Random Forest (RF) methods, trained from pollen concentrations collected from a Hirst-type sampler. These perform significantly better than using a simple particle size-filtered proxy or a Positive Matrix Factorisation (PMF) source apportionment pollen proxy. Twelve NN and RF models were developed to construct a pollen proxy, each varying by model type, input features and target variable. The results show that such models can construct useful information on pollen from OPC data. The best metrics achieved (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.85, coefficient of determination = 0.67) were for the NN model constructing a Poaceae (grass) pollen proxy, based on particle size information, temperature, and relative humidity. Ability to distinguish high pollen events was evaluated using F1 Scores, a score reflecting the fraction of true positives with respect to false positives and false negatives, with promising results (F1 ≤ 0.83). Model-constructed proxies demonstrated the ability to follow monthly and diurnal trends in pollen. We discuss the suitability of OPCs for monitoring pollen and offer advice for future progress. We demonstrate an attractive alternative for automated pollen monitoring that could provide valuable and timely information to the benefit of pollen allergy sufferers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie A Mills
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Dimitrios Bousiotis
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - José M Maya-Manzano
- Centre of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM), Member of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Technical University and Helmholtz Centre Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Fiona Tummon
- Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland
| | - A Rob MacKenzie
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Francis D Pope
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
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3
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Sun A, Sun X, Li X, Wu S, Ye C, Zhang H. Sensitization characteristics in allergic rhinitis and transport pathway for Artemisia pollen in northern Beijing, China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 884:163795. [PMID: 37127159 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The genus Artemisia, an important allergen related to Allergic Rhinitis (AR), is widespread in temperate regions. However, the sensitization rate of Artemisia pollen varies significantly, and the source of Artemisia pollen is not clear. Based on continuous daily airborne pollen monitoring in the summer and autumn of 2019 and 2020 in northern Beijing, the daily number of AR patient visits during the same period, and the detection of allergen serum-specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) in some AR patients, this study discusses the sensitization rate of Artemisia pollen and its transmission pathway and possible source area. The results show that (1) Artemisia pollen is the most important airborne pollen in summer and autumn in northern Beijing, and the pollen concentration is significantly related to the daily number of AR patient visits; (2) the rate of AR patients testing positive for Artemisia pollen allergens is 32.35 %, which is the first risk allergen and is consistent with the high sensitization rate of Artemisia pollen in northern China; and (3) in addition to local sources, central and southern Inner Mongolia, southern Mongolia and northwestern China are potential source areas of Artemisia pollen within the study area. This study provides first-hand data for accurately understanding the allergenic characteristics and sources of Artemisia pollen in northern Beijing and provides a scientific basis for the prevention of AR induced by Artemisia pollen in patients in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aizhi Sun
- College of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Beijing Yanshan Earth Critical Zone National Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China; Key Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Xiaoli Sun
- Dermatology and Allery Center, Beijing Huairou Hospital, Beijing 101499, China
| | - Xueyin Li
- College of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Beijing Yanshan Earth Critical Zone National Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
| | - Shuangshuang Wu
- College of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Beijing Yanshan Earth Critical Zone National Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
| | - Caihua Ye
- Beijing Meteorological Service Center, Beijing 100097, China
| | - Haihong Zhang
- Dermatology and Allery Center, Beijing Huairou Hospital, Beijing 101499, China.
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Vélez-Pereira AM, De Linares C, Belmonte J. Aerobiological modelling II: A review of long-range transport models. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 845:157351. [PMID: 35842165 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The long-range atmospheric transport models of pollen and fungal spores require four modules for their development: (i) Meteorological module: which contain the meteorological model, and it can be coupled to transport model with the same output configuration (spatio-temporal resolution), or uncoupled does not necessarily have the same output parameters. (ii) Emission module: settles the mass fluxes of bioaerosol, it can be done with a complex parameterization integrating phenological models and meteorological factors or by a simple emission factor. (iii) Sources of emission module, specifically refers to forestry/agronomy maps or, in the case of herbs and fungi, to potential geographical areas of emission. Obtaining the highest possible resolution in these maps allows establishing greater reliability in the modelling. (iv) Atmospheric transport module, with its respective established output parameters. The review and subsequent analysis presented in this article, were performed on published electronic scientific articles from 1998 to 2016. Of a total of 101 models applied found in 64 articles, 33 % performed forward modelling (using 15 different models) and 67 % made backward modelling (with three different models). The 88 % of the cases were applied to pollen (13 taxa) and 12 % to fungal spores (3 taxa). Regarding the emission module, 22 % used parametrization (four different parameters) and 10 % emission factors. The most used transport model was HYSPLIT (59 %: 56 % backward and 3 % forward) following by SILAM 10 % (all forward). Main conclusions were that the models of long-range transport of pollen and fungal spores had high technical-scientific requirements to development and that the major limitations were the establishment of the flow and the source of the emission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés M Vélez-Pereira
- Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile; Laboratorio de Investigaciones Medioambientales de Zonas Áridas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile.
| | | | - Jordina Belmonte
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
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Šikoparija B, Matavulj P, Mimić G, Smith M, Grewling Ł, Podraščanin Z. Real-time automatic detection of starch particles in ambient air. AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY 2022; 323:109034. [PMID: 36003366 PMCID: PMC9391928 DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Considerable amounts of starch granules can be present in the atmosphere from both natural and anthropogenic sources. The aim of this study is to investigate the variability and potential origin of starch granules in ambient air recorded at six cities situated in a region with dominantly agricultural land use. This is achieved by using a combination of laser spectroscopy bioaerosol measurements with 1 min temporal resolution, traditional volumetric Hirst type bioaerosol sampling and atmospheric modelling. The analysis of wind roses identified potential sources of airborne starch (i.e., cereal grain storage facilities) in the vicinity of all aerobiological stations analysed in this study. The analysis of the CALPUFF dispersion model confirmed that emission of dust from the location of storage towers situated about 2.5 km north of the aerobiological station in Novi Sad is a plausible source of high airborne concentrations of starch granules. This study is important for environmental health since it contributes body of knowledge about sources, emission, and dispersion of airborne starch, known to be involved in phenomena such as thunderstorm-triggered asthma. The presented approach integrates monitoring and modelling, and provides a roadmap for examining a variety of bioaerosols previously considered to be outside the scope of traditional aerobiological measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Branko Šikoparija
- BioSensе Institute-Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Dr Zorana Djindjica 1, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
| | - Predrag Matavulj
- BioSensе Institute-Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Dr Zorana Djindjica 1, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
| | - Gordan Mimić
- BioSensе Institute-Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Dr Zorana Djindjica 1, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
| | - Matt Smith
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, UK
| | - Łukasz Grewling
- Laboratory of Aerobiology, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Zorica Podraščanin
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
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6
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Grewling Ł, Magyar D, Chłopek K, Grinn-Gofroń A, Gwiazdowska J, Siddiquee A, Ianovici N, Kasprzyk I, Wójcik M, Lafférsová J, Majkowska-Wojciechowska B, Myszkowska D, Rodinkova V, Bortnyk M, Malkiewicz M, Piotrowska-Weryszko K, Sulborska-Różycka A, Rybniček O, Ščevková J, Šikoparija B, Skjøth CA, Smith M, Bogawski P. Bioaerosols on the atmospheric super highway: An example of long distance transport of Alternaria spores from the Pannonian Plain to Poland. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 819:153148. [PMID: 35041944 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Alternaria spores are pathogenic to agricultural crops, and the longest and the most severe sporulation seasons are predominantly recorded in rural areas, e.g. the Pannonian Plain (PP) in South-Central Europe. In Poland (Central Europe), airborne Alternaria spore concentrations peak between July and August. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the PP is the source of Alternaria spores recorded in Poland after the main sporulation season (September-October). Airborne Alternaria spores (2005-2019) were collected using volumetric Hirst spore traps located in 38 locations along the potential pathways of air masses, i.e. from Serbia, Romania and Hungary, through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, to Northern Poland. Three potential episodes of Long Distance Transport (LDT) were selected and characterized in detail, including the analysis of Alternaria spore data, back trajectory analysis, dispersal modelling, and description of local weather and mesoscale synoptic conditions. During selected episodes, increases in Alternaria spore concentrations in Poznań were recorded at unusual times that deviated from the typical diurnal pattern, i.e. at night or during morning hours. Alternaria spore concentrations on the PP were very high (>1000 spores/m3) at that time. The presence of non-local Ambrosia pollen, common to the PP, were also observed in the air. Air mass trajectory analysis and dispersal modelling showed that the northwest part of the PP, north of the Transdanubian Mountains, was the potential source area of Alternaria spores. Our results show that Alternaria spores are transported over long distances from the PP to Poland. These spores may markedly increase local exposure to Alternaria spores in the receptor area and pose a risk to both human and plant health. Alternaria spores followed the same atmospheric route as previously described LDT ragweed pollen, revealing the existence of an atmospheric super highway that transports bioaerosols from the south to the north of Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Grewling
- Laboratory of Aerobiology, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
| | - Donat Magyar
- National Public Health Institute, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | | | - Julia Gwiazdowska
- Laboratory of Aerobiology, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Asad Siddiquee
- Laboratory of Aerobiology, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Nicoleta Ianovici
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biology, and Geography, West University of Timisoara, Romania
| | - Idalia Kasprzyk
- Department of Biology, Institute of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Magdalena Wójcik
- Department of Biology, Institute of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Janka Lafférsová
- Department of Environmental Biology, Public Health Office, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
| | | | - Dorota Myszkowska
- Jagiellonian University Medical College, Department of Clinical and Environmental Allergology, Kraków, Poland
| | | | - Mykyta Bortnyk
- National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya, Ukraine; Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University, Vinnytsia, Ukraine
| | | | | | | | - Ondrej Rybniček
- Paediatric Department, Allergy Unit, Masaryk University and University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Ščevková
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Branko Šikoparija
- BioSense Institute - Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Carsten Ambelas Skjøth
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Worcester, United Kingdom
| | - Matt Smith
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Worcester, United Kingdom
| | - Paweł Bogawski
- Laboratory of Biological Spatial Information, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
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Alarcón M, Periago C, Pino D, Mazón J, Casas-Castillo MDC, Ho-Zhang JJ, De Linares C, Rodríguez-Solà R, Belmonte J. Potential contribution of distant sources to airborne Betula pollen levels in Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 818:151827. [PMID: 34813812 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Betula (birch) pollen is one of the most important causes of respiratory allergy in Northern and Central Europe. While birch trees are abundant in Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe, they are scarce in the Mediterranean territories, especially in the Iberian Peninsula (IP), where they grow only in the northern regions and as ornamental trees in urban areas. However, the airborne birch pollen patterns in Catalonia (Northeastern IP) show abrupt high concentrations in areas with usually low local influence. The intensity of the derived health problems can be increased by outbreaks due to long-range pollen transport. The present work evaluates the different potential contributions to Catalonia from the main source regions: Pyrenees, Cantabria, and the forests of France and Central Europe. To this end, we computed the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) back trajectories of air masses associated with the main Betula pollen peaks occurring simultaneously over different Catalan monitoring stations, and we studied their provenance over a 15-year period. The Vielha aerobiological station on the northern slopes of the Central Pyrenees was used to identify the dates of the pollen season in the Pyrenean region. In order to better understand the role of the Pyrenees, which is the nearest of the four birch forested regions, we classified the pollen peaks in the other Catalan stations into three groups based on the relationship between the peak and the pollen season in the Pyrenees. Our analysis of back-trajectory residence time, combined with the associated pollen concentration, reveals that two principal routes other than the Pyrenean forest sustain the northerly fluxes that enter Catalonia and carry significant concentrations of Betula pollen. This study has also allowed quantifying the differentiated contributions of the potential source regions. In addition, the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) mesoscale model has been used to study three specific episodes. Both models, HYSPLIT and WRF, complement each other and have allowed for better understanding of the main mechanisms governing the entry of birch pollen to the region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Alarcón
- Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Cristina Periago
- Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Pino
- Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Mazón
- Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Jiang Ji Ho-Zhang
- Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Concepción De Linares
- Department of Botany, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Raül Rodríguez-Solà
- Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordina Belmonte
- Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain; Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
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Albertini R, Veronesi L, Colucci ME, Pasquarella C. The scenario of the studies on ragweed (Ambrosia Sp.) and related issues from its beginning to today: a useful tool for future goals in a one health approach. ACTA BIO-MEDICA : ATENEI PARMENSIS 2022; 93:e2022324. [PMID: 36300205 PMCID: PMC9686166 DOI: 10.23750/abm.v93i5.13771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Airborne ragweed pollen is one of the agents of respiratory allergies in our changing environment. The monitoring of pollen is essential to manage pollen allergy and to improve its forecasting methods. Moreover, the control and fight against ragweed plants is important. Aim of this study is to understand the scenario of the studies on ragweed over time. METHODS We searched PubMed and Scopus for articles published until July 2022 reporting the words "ragweed". Articles written in all languages were included. RESULTS Scopus was the database with the highest number of published papers. Among the papers on ragweed, the papers citing the word "allergy" were 59.4% in PubMed and 37,6% in Scopus. The subject areas more addressed were medicine, immunology, genetics/molecular biology, but agricultural/biological sciences too and, interestingly, other subjects like social sciences, art, humanistic, etc.). Among the top 40 institutions supporting research, 8 were European, 4 Asian, 1 Russian and 21 were American, the other 6 were pharmaceutical companies. CONCLUSIONS This study shows a picture of the ragweed studies and some related subjects over time. A gap between the number of biomedical and not biomedical issues was evident. There is a need for greater involvement of institutions into support of knowledge and fight ragweed. The results will provide a useful tool to identify future goals in a global approach of ragweed related issues.
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Mimić G, Podraščanin Z, Lugonja P, Šikoparija B. The influence of source maps on SILAM performance in modeling ragweed pollen concentrations in the area of a major European source. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2021; 65:917-928. [PMID: 33474614 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-021-02075-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The Pannonian Plain is one of the centers of ragweed distribution in Europe. The province of Vojvodina (Serbia) is located on the southern part of the Pannonian Plain, representing a highly infested region. In this study, we have used the SILAM atmospheric dispersion model to simulate ragweed pollen concentrations during the season 2016 in the Vojvodina region. SILAM was tested with three different source maps of ragweed distribution in Vojvodina only: (1) map used in operational SILAM, which was calibrated with the SILAM model and observations, (2) map derived using "top-down" approach with land cover data inventory, and (3) map obtained with "top-down" approach using crop classification from the satellite data. Additionally, the sensitivity studies were done using two modified maps to study the effect of the source strength and long-range transport. Results of simulations were validated with the bi-hourly, daily, and seasonal pollen concentrations measured at five stations in Vojvodina. Overall Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.51 (Map 1), 0.50 (Map 2), and 0.42 (Map 3), while debiased scores were 232.95 pollen m-3 (Map 1), 245.59 pollen m-3 (Map 2), and 258.24 pollen m-3 (Map 3). Even though Vojvodina is in the area of a major European source, regional transport of ragweed pollen from a few hundred kilometers of the surrounding area was important in explaining the presence of pollen in the afternoon hours, although it could not completely explain total pollen quantity. The results confirmed that it is vital to calibrate source maps using atmospheric dispersion model with the observed pollen data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gordan Mimić
- BioSense Institute, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
| | - Zorica Podraščanin
- Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Predrag Lugonja
- BioSense Institute, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Branko Šikoparija
- BioSense Institute, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
- Faculty of Sciences, Laboratory for palynology, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
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10
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Pumkaeo P, Takahashi J, Iwahashi H. Detection and monitoring of insect traces in bioaerosols. PeerJ 2021; 9:e10862. [PMID: 33614291 PMCID: PMC7879950 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies on bioaerosols have primarily focused on their chemical and biological compositions and their impact on public health and the ecosystem. However, most bioaerosol studies have only focused on viruses, bacteria, fungi, and pollen. To assess the diversity and composition of airborne insect material in particulate matter (PM) for the first time, we attempted to detect DNA traces of insect origin in dust samples collected over a two-year period. These samples were systematically collected at one-month intervals and categorized into two groups, PM2.5 and PM10, based on the aerodynamic diameter of the aerosol particles. Cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) was the barcoding region used to identify the origins of the extracted DNA. The airborne insect community in these samples was analyzed using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The most abundant insect sequences belonged to the order Hemiptera (true bugs), whereas order Diptera were also detected in both PM2.5 and PM10 samples. Additionally, we inferred the presence of particulates of insect origin, such as brochosomes and integument particles, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This provided additional confirmation of the molecular results. In this study, we demonstrated the benefits of detection and monitoring of insect information in bioaerosols for understanding the source and composition. Our results suggest that the PM2.5 and PM10 groups are rich in insect diversity. Lastly, the development of databases can improve the identification accuracy of the analytical results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panyapon Pumkaeo
- Division of Science of Biological Resources, United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Gifu University, Gifu, 1-1 Yanagido, Japan
| | - Junko Takahashi
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Health and Medical Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Iwahashi
- Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, 1-1 Yanagido, Japan
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11
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Stępalska D, Myszkowska D, Piotrowicz K, Kluska K, Chłopek K, Grewling Ł, Lafférsová J, Majkowska-Wojciechowska B, Malkiewicz M, Piotrowska-Weryszko K, Puc M, Rodinkova V, Rybníček O, Ščevková J, Voloshchuk K. High Ambrosia pollen concentrations in Poland respecting the long distance transport (LDT). THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 736:139615. [PMID: 32474278 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
High Ambrosia pollen concentrations in Poland rather rarely come from the local sources. The aim of this study was to define the temporal and spatial differences of the high Ambrosia pollen concentrations by creating models for the pollen transport from the distant sources. This study was thought to determine the direction of the air masses inflow into Poland, carrying Ambrosia pollen, from areas of the bordering countries with the pollen concentrations higher than iSTOTEN_n Poland. Pollen and meteorological datasets at 8 monitoring sites in Poland, and daily pollen concentrations at 11 sites in the Czech Republic, 5 sites in Slovakia and 3 sites in Ukraine were analysed recently. Days with concentrations ≥10 Pollen/m3 and concurrent meteorological situations were analysed in great deal. The HYSPLIT model was applied to compute backward trajectories up to 4 days backward (96 h) and at three altitudes: 20, 500 and 1000 m above ground level (a.g.l.). High pollen concentrations occur most frequently when the air masses inflow into Poland from southerly (S, SE, SW, 44%) and easterly (E, 6%) directions and in no advection situations (25%). In years with the highest frequency of days over 10 Pollen/m3, the prevailing directions of the pollen influx into Poland were from the South (2004-2006, 2008, 2011) but in one year (2014) from the East. Trajectories for the studied period show that air masses come most frequently from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Sometimes, the Ambrosia pollen transport happens from Ukraine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danuta Stępalska
- Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 27, 31-531 Kraków, Poland
| | - Dorota Myszkowska
- Jagiellonian University Medical College, Department of Clinical and Environmental Allergology, Śniadeckich 10, 31-531 Kraków, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Katarzyna Piotrowicz
- Department of Climatology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-367 Kraków, Poland.
| | - Katarzyna Kluska
- Department of Environmental Monitoring, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Kazimiera Chłopek
- Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Silesia, Będzińska, 60 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland.
| | - Łukasz Grewling
- Laboratory of Aerobiology, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznańskiego 6, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Janka Lafférsová
- Department of Environmental Biology, Public Health Office, Cesta k/nemocnici 25, 975-56 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
| | | | - Małgorzata Malkiewicz
- Department of Stratigraphical Geology, Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Wrocław.
| | - Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko
- Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 15, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
| | - Małgorzata Puc
- Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Szczecin, Felczaka 3c, 71-412 Szczecin, Poland.
| | - Victoria Rodinkova
- National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, 56, Pirogov Street, Vinnytsia 21018, Ukraine
| | - Ondřej Rybníček
- Paediatric Department, Allergy Unit, Masaryk University and University Hospital Brno, Jihlavska 20, CZ-625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Ščevková
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Révová 39, 811 02 Bratislava 1, Slovakia.
| | - Kateryna Voloshchuk
- Department of Botany, Biological Faculty Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Kyryla Mefodiya Street, 8, Lviv, 79005, Ukraine
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12
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Grewling Ł, Bogawski P, Kostecki Ł, Nowak M, Szymańska A, Frątczak A. Atmospheric exposure to the major Artemisia pollen allergen (Art v 1): Seasonality, impact of weather, and clinical implications. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 713:136611. [PMID: 31958727 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Revised: 01/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Artemisia pollen grains are important aeroallergens worldwide. The amount of allergenic proteins produced by pollen, or pollen allergenicity, is regulated by both genes and the environment. As a result, even closely related plant taxa may release pollen with distinctly different allergen contents. Here, we determined the variability in atmospheric exposure to the major Artemisia pollen allergen, Art v 1, during the pollination seasons of two common species, i.e., A. vulgaris (early flowering species) and A. campestris (late flowering species), in Poznań, Poland (2013-2015). Artemisia pollen grains were collected using Hirst-type volumetric trap, while Art v 1 was collected by a two-stage cascade impactor (PM10 and PM>10 air fractions) and quantified by immunoenzymatic analysis. The results showed that daily Art v 1 levels correlated significantly with mean daily concentrations of Artemisia pollen (from r = 0.426 to r = 0.949, depending on air fraction and peak of the season). Significant differences were observed between 1) the median pollen allergenicity in different seasons (from 2.5 to 4.7 pg Art v 1/pollen) and 2) the median pollen allergenicity in different peak periods of the season (from 1.8 to 6.7 pg Art v 1/pollen). During the late peak (flowering of A. campestris), the median pollen allergenicity was significantly higher (on average by 63%, p < 0.05) than that during A. vulgaris flowering. The highest mean seasonal pollen allergenicity was observed during the wettest season, while the lowest was observed during the driest season (from July-August). In summary, our study showed distinct differences in Artemisia pollen allergenicity, that were not only related to daily and seasonal variability, which may exceed 800% and 80%, respectively but also noticeable when two common Artemisia species were compared. Therefore, we argue that variability in pollen allergenicity (both seasonal and species-specific) should be considered in future studies assessing pollen exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Grewling
- Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Paweł Bogawski
- Laboratory of Biological Spatial Information, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Łukasz Kostecki
- Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Nowak
- Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Agata Szymańska
- Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Agata Frątczak
- Department of Plant Taxonomy, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
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13
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Particle size distribution of the major Alternaria alternata allergen, Alt a 1, derived from airborne spores and subspore fragments. Fungal Biol 2020; 124:219-227. [PMID: 32220382 DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2020.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Revised: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Fungal fragments are abundant immunoreactive bioaerosols that may outnumber the concentrations of intact spores in the air. To investigate the importance of Alternaria fragments as sources of allergens compared to Alternaria spores, we determined the levels of Alternaria spores and Alt a 1 (the major allergen in Alternaria alternata spores) collected on filters within three fractions of particulate matter (PM) of different aerodynamic diameter: (1) PM>10, (diameter>10 μm); (2) PM2.5-10 (2.5-10μm); (3) PM2.5 (0.12-2.5 μm). The airborne particles were collected using a three stage high-volume ChemVol cascade impactor during the Alternaria sporulation season in Poznań, Poland (30 d between 6 July and 22 September 2016). The quantification of Alt a 1 was performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. High concentrations of Alt a 1 were recorded during warm and dry d characterized by high sunshine duration, lack of clouds and high dew point values. Atmospheric concentrations of Alternaria spores correlated significantly (r = 0.930, p < 0.001) with Alt a 1 levels. The highest Alt a 1 was recorded in PM2.5-10 (66.8 % of total Alt a 1), while the lowest in PM2.5 (<1.0 %). Significantly more Alt a 1 per spore (>30 %) was observed in PM2.5-10 than in PM>10. This Alt a 1 excess may be derived from sources other than spores, e.g. hyphal fragments. Overall, in outdoor air the major source of Alt a 1 are intact Alternaria spores, but the impact of other fungal fragments (hyphal parts, broken spores, conidiophores) cannot be neglected, as they may increase the total atmospheric Alt a 1 concentration.
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14
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Kasprzyk I, Borycka K. Alder pollen concentrations in the air during snowfall. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2019; 63:1651-1658. [PMID: 31511976 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-019-01781-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Revised: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The focus of our study was airborne alder pollen because it is one of the main causes of inhalant allergies in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. The main research setback was pollen concentrations during snowfall. Analyses from a 21-year database showed that the hourly patterns of occurrence of airborne Alnus pollen during snowfall differ. Snowfall can cause a decrease in pollen concentrations in the air that may persist for several hours. However, during the snowfall period of 2018, an increase in pollen concentrations was observed. High temperatures during the days preceding snowfall stimulate thermal currents, and pollen could become airborne. During snowfall, airborne pollen grains are supposedly washed out of the atmosphere and numerous pollen grains are deposited on the snow surface. Hypotheses about the long-distance transport of pollen have also been verified. Back-trajectory analysis has revealed that air masses from Belarus and Ukraine were transported to Rzeszow. We found that the influence of snowfall on pollen concentrations is ambiguous and individuals prone to allergies also notice symptoms on days with snowfall and temperatures below zero.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Kasprzyk
- Department of Environmental Monitoring, University of Rzeszow, 4 Zelwerowicza St., 35-601, Rzeszow, Poland.
| | - K Borycka
- Department of Environmental Monitoring, University of Rzeszow, 4 Zelwerowicza St., 35-601, Rzeszow, Poland
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15
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Sauliene I, Sukiene L, Kazlauskiene V. The assessment of atmospheric conditions and constituents on allergenic pollen loads in Lithuania. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2019; 250:109469. [PMID: 31487603 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 08/12/2019] [Accepted: 08/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- I Sauliene
- Siauliai University, P. Visinskio str. 38, 76352, Siauliai, Lithuania.
| | - L Sukiene
- Siauliai University, P. Visinskio str. 38, 76352, Siauliai, Lithuania.
| | - V Kazlauskiene
- Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service, Rudnios str. 6, 09300, Vilnius, Lithuania.
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16
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Bogawski P, Borycka K, Grewling Ł, Kasprzyk I. Detecting distant sources of airborne pollen for Poland: Integrating back-trajectory and dispersion modelling with a satellite-based phenology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 689:109-125. [PMID: 31271980 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 06/11/2019] [Accepted: 06/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Airborne pollen might be transported over thousands of kilometres, which has important ecological, evolutionary and clinical consequences. The long-distance transport (LDT) of birch (Betula sp.) pollen has been described in detail for northern Europe. However, a comprehensive analysis of this transport from other European regions is lacking. This study focused on the post-seasonal LDT of birch pollen to Poland (central Europe), with special attention paid to determining potential source areas of pollen and describing the causal mechanism favouring LDT episodes. Pollen monitoring (1997-2016) was conducted in Poznań and Rzeszów (500 km away from each other) using volumetric traps. The LDT episodes were characterized by analysing the (1) bi-hourly backward air mass trajectories using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT); (2) sea level pressure (SLP) and 500 hPa geopotential height (z500) anomalies; and (3) patterns of the Enhanced Vegetation Index to determine the birch flowering time along the moving air mass trajectories. The potential locations of birch populations within broadleaved forests were estimated with GLOBCOVER data. Finally, the movement of pollen emitted from potential source areas was simulated using the HYSPLIT dispersion model. LDT episodes were mainly recorded in the first fortnight of May. The main source areas of pollen to Poland were western Russia, Belarus and to a lesser extent the eastern Baltic republics and the Scandinavian Peninsula. In most cases, a high-pressure centre located over Scandinavia and an elevated z500 over Germany-Denmark-Sweden favoured pollen transport. On average, the post-seasonal LDT episodes of birch pollen to Poland occur almost every year (Poznań) or every second year (Rzeszów). The episodes are highly variable in time; thus, the pollen concentration may unexpectedly cause allergy symptoms in sensitized patients. In some cases, these episodes may be extremely severe, thereby prolonging and strengthening the exposure to birch pollen allergens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Bogawski
- Laboratory of Biological Spatial Information, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Katarzyna Borycka
- Department of Environmental Monitoring, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Łukasz Grewling
- Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
| | - Idalia Kasprzyk
- Department of Environmental Monitoring, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
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17
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Grewling Ł, Bogawski P, Kryza M, Magyar D, Šikoparija B, Skjøth CA, Udvardy O, Werner M, Smith M. Concomitant occurrence of anthropogenic air pollutants, mineral dust and fungal spores during long-distance transport of ragweed pollen. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2019; 254:112948. [PMID: 31377333 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.07.116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Large-scale synoptic conditions are able to transport considerable amounts of airborne particles over entire continents by creating substantial air mass movement. This phenomenon is observed in Europe in relation to highly allergenic ragweed (Ambrosia L.) pollen grains that are transported from populations in Central Europe (mainly the Pannonian Plain and Balkans) to the North. The path taken by atmospheric ragweed pollen often passes through the highly industrialised mining region of Silesia in Southern Poland, considered to be one of the most polluted areas in the EU. It is hypothesized that chemical air pollutants released over Silesia could become mixed with biological material and be transported to less polluted regions further North. We analysed levels of air pollution during episodes of long-distance transport (LDT) of ragweed pollen to Poland. Results show that, concomitantly with pollen, the concentration of air pollutants with potential health-risk, i.e. SO2, and PM10, have also significantly increased (by 104% and 37%, respectively) in the receptor area (Western Poland). Chemical transport modelling (EMEP) and air mass back-trajectory analysis (HYSPLIT) showed that potential sources of PM10 include Silesia, as well as mineral dust from the Ukrainian steppe and the Sahara Desert. In addition, atmospheric concentrations of other allergenic biological particles, i.e. Alternaria Nees ex Fr. spores, also increased markedly (by 115%) during LDT episodes. We suggest that the LDT episodes of ragweed pollen over Europe are not a "one-component" phenomenon, but are often related to elevated levels of chemical air pollutants and other biotic and abiotic components (fungal spores and desert dust).
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Grewling
- Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-489 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Paweł Bogawski
- Laboratory of Biological Spatial Information, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-489 Poznań, Poland
| | - Maciej Kryza
- Department of Climatology and Atmosphere Protection, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Donat Magyar
- Department of Air Hygiene and Aerobiology, National Public Health Institute, Hungary
| | - Branko Šikoparija
- BioSense Institute - Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Carsten Ambelas Skjøth
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, WR2 6AJ, Worcester, United Kingdom
| | - Orsolya Udvardy
- Department of Air Hygiene and Aerobiology, National Public Health Institute, Hungary
| | - Małgorzata Werner
- Department of Climatology and Atmosphere Protection, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Matt Smith
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, WR2 6AJ, Worcester, United Kingdom
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18
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Skjøth CA, Sun Y, Karrer G, Sikoparija B, Smith M, Schaffner U, Müller-Schärer H. Predicting abundances of invasive ragweed across Europe using a "top-down" approach. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 686:212-222. [PMID: 31176820 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Revised: 05/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is a widely distributed and harmful invasive plant that is an important source of highly allergenic pollen grains and a prominent crop weed. As a result, ragweed causes huge costs to both human health and agriculture in affected areas. Efficient mitigation requires accurate mapping of ragweed densities that, until now, has not been achieved accurately for the whole of Europe. Here we provide two inventories of common ragweed abundances with grid resolutions of 1 km and 10 km. These "top-down" inventories integrate pollen data from 349 stations in Europe with habitat and landscape management information, derived from land cover data and expert knowledge. This allows us to cover areas where surface observations are missing. Model results were validated using "bottom-up" data of common ragweed in Austria and Serbia. Results show high agreement between the two analytical methods. The inventory shows that areas with the lowest ragweed abundances are found in Northern and Southern European countries and the highest abundances are in parts of Russia, parts of Ukraine and the Pannonian Plain. Smaller hotspots are found in Northern Italy, the Rhône Valley in France and in Turkey. The top-down approach is based on a new approach that allows for cross-continental studies and is applicable to other anemophilous species. Due to its simplicity, it can be used to investigate such species that are difficult and costly to identify at larger scales using traditional vegetation surveys or remote sensing. The final inventory is open source and available as a georeferenced tif file, allowing for multiple usages, reducing costs for health services and agriculture through well-targeted management interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carsten Ambelas Skjøth
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, WR2 6AJ Worcester, United Kingdom.
| | - Yan Sun
- Department of Biology/Ecology & Evolution, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Gerhard Karrer
- Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Branko Sikoparija
- BioSense Institute - Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Matt Smith
- School of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, WR2 6AJ Worcester, United Kingdom
| | - Urs Schaffner
- Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, Rue des Grillons 1, CH-2800 Delémont, Switzerland
| | - Heinz Müller-Schärer
- Department of Biology/Ecology & Evolution, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
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19
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Zewdie GK, Lary DJ, Levetin E, Garuma GF. Applying Deep Neural Networks and Ensemble Machine Learning Methods to Forecast Airborne Ambrosia Pollen. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:ijerph16111992. [PMID: 31167504 PMCID: PMC6603941 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16111992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2019] [Revised: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Allergies to airborne pollen are a significant issue affecting millions of Americans. Consequently, accurately predicting the daily concentration of airborne pollen is of significant public benefit in providing timely alerts. This study presents a method for the robust estimation of the concentration of airborne Ambrosia pollen using a suite of machine learning approaches including deep learning and ensemble learners. Each of these machine learning approaches utilize data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric weather and land surface reanalysis. The machine learning approaches used for developing a suite of empirical models are deep neural networks, extreme gradient boosting, random forests and Bayesian ridge regression methods for developing our predictive model. The training data included twenty-four years of daily pollen concentration measurements together with ECMWF weather and land surface reanalysis data from 1987 to 2011 is used to develop the machine learning predictive models. The last six years of the dataset from 2012 to 2017 is used to independently test the performance of the machine learning models. The correlation coefficients between the estimated and actual pollen abundance for the independent validation datasets for the deep neural networks, random forest, extreme gradient boosting and Bayesian ridge were 0.82, 0.81, 0.81 and 0.75 respectively, showing that machine learning can be used to effectively forecast the concentrations of airborne pollen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gebreab K Zewdie
- William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
| | - David J Lary
- William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
| | - Estelle Levetin
- Department of Biological Science, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA.
| | - Gemechu F Garuma
- Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC H2L 2C4, Canada.
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20
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Qin X, Li Y, Sun X, Meng L, Wang X. Transport pathway and source area for Artemisia pollen in Beijing, China. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2019; 63:687-699. [PMID: 29236152 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-017-1467-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2017] [Revised: 10/23/2017] [Accepted: 10/25/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Artemisia pollen is an important allergen responsible for allergic rhinitis in Beijing, China. To explore the transport pathways and source areas of Artemisia pollen, we used Burkard 7-day traps to monitor daily pollen concentrations in 2016 in an urban and suburban locality. Backward trajectories of 24- and 96-h and their cluster analysis were performed to identify transport pathways of Artemisia pollen using the HYSPLIT model on 0.5° × 0.5° GADS meteorological data. The potential source contribution function (PSCF) and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) were calculated to further identify the major potential source areas at local, regional, and long-range scales. Our results showed significant differences in Artemisia pollen concentration between urban and suburban areas, attributed to differences in plant distribution and altitude of the sampling locality. Such differences arisen from both pollen emission and air mass movements, hence pollen dispersal. At local or regional scales, source area of northwestern parts of Beijing City, Hebei Province and northern and northwestern parts of Inner Mongolia influenced the major transport pathways of Artemisia pollen. Transport pathway at a long-range scale and its corresponding source area extended to northwestern parts of Mongolia. The regional-scale transport affected by wind and altitude is more profound for Artemisia pollen at the suburban than at the urban station.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yiyin Li
- Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Xu Sun
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ling Meng
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoke Wang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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21
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Rivas J, Mohl J, Van Pelt R, Leung MY, Wallace R, Gill T, Walsh E. Evidence for regional aeolian transport of freshwater micrometazoans in arid regions. LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY LETTERS 2018; 3:320-330. [PMID: 30534597 PMCID: PMC6284810 DOI: 10.1002/lol2.10072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
While separated by large expanses of dry terrain unsuitable for aquatic biota, aridland waters possess high biodiversity. How aquatic micrometazoans disperse to, and colonize, these isolated ephemeral habitats are not well understood. We used a multi-faceted approach including wind tunnel and rehydration experiments, and next-generation sequencing to assess potential movement of diapausing propagules of aquatic invertebrates by anemochory across regional scales (102-105 km). Wind tunnel experiments using dry playa sediments with added micrometazoan propagules demonstrated that after entrainment by saltation and downwind transport were subsequently recoverable as viable animals when rehydrated. Further, rehydration of fallen natural dust yielded micrometazoans, including rotifers, gastrotrichs, microcrustaceans, and nematodes. Using conserved DNA primers, we identified >3,300 eukaryotic Operational Taxonomic Units (excluding fungi) in the dust including some taxa found in rehydration experiments. Thus, we provide strong evidence that anemochory can disperse micrometazoans among isolated, ephemeral ecosystems in North American deserts and likely elsewhere.
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Affiliation(s)
- J.A. Rivas
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
| | - J. Mohl
- Bioinformatics Program, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
| | | | - M.-Y. Leung
- Bioinformatics Program, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
| | | | - T.E. Gill
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
| | - E.J. Walsh
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
- Bioinformatics Program, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
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22
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McInnes RN, Hemming D, Burgess P, Lyndsay D, Osborne NJ, Skjøth CA, Thomas S, Vardoulakis S. Mapping allergenic pollen vegetation in UK to study environmental exposure and human health. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 599-600:483-499. [PMID: 28482306 PMCID: PMC5593151 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Revised: 03/23/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Allergenic pollen is produced by the flowers of a number of trees, grasses and weeds found throughout the UK. Exposure to such pollen grains can exacerbate pollen-related asthma and allergenic conditions such as allergic rhinitis (hay fever). Maps showing the location of these allergenic taxa have many applications: they can be used to provide advice on risk assessments; combined with health data to inform research on health impacts such as respiratory hospital admissions; combined with weather data to improve pollen forecasting systems; or as inputs to pollen emission models. In this study we present 1km resolution maps of 12 taxa of trees, grass and weeds found in the UK. We have selected the main species recorded by the UK pollen network. The taxa mapped in this study were: Alnus (alder), Fraxinus (ash), Betula (birch), Corylus (hazel), Quercus (oak), Pinus (pine) and Salix (willow), Poaceae (grass), Artemisia (mugwort), Plantago (plantain), Rumex (dock, sorrels) and Urtica (nettle). We also focus on one high population centre and present maps showing local level detail around the city of London. Our results show the different geographical distributions of the 12 taxa of trees, weeds and grass, which can be used to study plants in the UK associated with allergy and allergic asthma. These maps have been produced in order to study environmental exposure and human health, although there are many possible applications. This novel method not only provides maps of many different plant types, but also at high resolution across regions of the UK, and we uniquely present 12 key plant taxa using a consistent methodology. To consider the impact on human health due to exposure of the pollen grains, it is important to consider the timing of pollen release, and its dispersal, as well as the effect on air quality, which is also discussed here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel N McInnes
- Met Office Hadley Centre, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UK; European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro TR1 3HD, UK.
| | - Deborah Hemming
- Met Office Hadley Centre, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UK; Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Peter Burgess
- Devon Wildlife Trust, Cricklepit Mill, Commercial Road, Exeter, EX2 4AB, UK
| | - Donna Lyndsay
- Bluesky International Limited, Unit 3, Jackson Street, Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 3NR, UK
| | - Nicholas J Osborne
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia; European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro TR1 3HD, UK
| | - Carsten Ambelas Skjøth
- National Pollen and Aerobiological Research Unit, Institute of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, WR2 6AJ, UK
| | - Sam Thomas
- Institute of Biological, Environmental & Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DA, UK
| | - Sotiris Vardoulakis
- Environmental Change Department, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England, Chilton, Oxon OX11 0RQ,UK; European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro TR1 3HD, UK
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23
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Beggs PJ, Šikoparija B, Smith M. Aerobiology in the International Journal of Biometeorology, 1957-2017. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2017; 61:51-58. [PMID: 28607999 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-017-1374-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Accepted: 05/04/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Aerobiology and biometeorology are related fields. Here we provide a broad review of aerobiology articles published in the International Journal of Biometeorology (IJB) over the past 60 years. We consider how the quantity of such work has varied over this period as well as which regions and countries have been the focus of such work, and where there is a relative paucity. We then focus on a number of highlights and themes in this research, including aerobiology and climate change and aerobiological modelling and forecasting. While much of the article focusses on airborne pollen research, we also discuss the extent to which other airborne organic particles such as fungal spores and bacteria have been the focus of research published in IJB. Also considered are knowledge gaps and research needs and priorities with respect to the field of aerobiology. While the IJB has been one of the main platforms for presenting aerobiological research over recent decades, the article highlights the need for the field of aerobiology to embrace new sampling technologies such as spectral analysis and next-generation sequencing to identify and quantify airborne biological particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Beggs
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
| | - Branko Šikoparija
- BioSense Institute, Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Matt Smith
- Institute of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Worcester, UK
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24
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Müller-Germann I, Pickersgill DA, Paulsen H, Alberternst B, Pöschl U, Fröhlich-Nowoisky J, Després VR. Allergenic Asteraceae in air particulate matter: quantitative DNA analysis of mugwort and ragweed. AEROBIOLOGIA 2017; 33:493-506. [PMID: 29167600 PMCID: PMC5674138 DOI: 10.1007/s10453-017-9485-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) and ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) are highly allergenic Asteraceae. They often cause pollen allergies in late summer and fall. While mugwort is native to Europe, ragweed reached Europe as a neophyte from North America about 150 years ago and continued spreading ever since. To understand possible relationships between the spread of ragweed, its abundance in air, and to judge possible health risks for the public, we quantified ragweed DNA in inhalable fine as well as in coarse air particulate matter. Mugwort was chosen for comparison, as it is closely related to ragweed and grows in similar, though mainly not identical, habitats but is native to Germany. The DNA quantification was performed on atmospheric aerosol samples collected over a period of 5 years in central Europe. The DNA concentrations were highest during the characteristic pollination periods but varied greatly between different years. In the inhalable fine particle fraction, ragweed exceeds the mugwort DNA concentration fivefold, while the coarse particle fraction, bearing intact pollen grains, contains more mugwort than ragweed DNA. The higher allergenic potential of ragweed might be linked to the humidity or long-range transport-induced bursting of ragweed pollen into smaller allergenic particles, which may reach the lower airways and cause more intense allergic reactions. Airborne ragweed DNA was detected also outside the local pollination periods, which can be explained by atmospheric long-range transport. Back-trajectory analyses indicate that the air masses containing ragweed DNA during winter had originated in regions with milder climate and large ragweed populations (Southern France, Carpathian Basin).
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Affiliation(s)
- I. Müller-Germann
- Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Joh.-Joachim-Becher-Weg 21, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - D. A. Pickersgill
- Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Joh.-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - H. Paulsen
- Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Joh.-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - B. Alberternst
- Working Group Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology, Hinter’m alten Ort 9, 61169 Friedberg, Germany
| | - U. Pöschl
- Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky
- Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - V. R. Després
- Biogeochemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Joh.-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55099 Mainz, Germany
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25
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Rasmussen K, Thyrring J, Muscarella R, Borchsenius F. Climate-change-induced range shifts of three allergenic ragweeds ( Ambrosia L.) in Europe and their potential impact on human health. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3104. [PMID: 28321366 PMCID: PMC5357339 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2016] [Accepted: 02/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Invasive allergenic plant species may have severe health-related impacts. In this study we aim to predict the effects of climate change on the distribution of three allergenic ragweed species (Ambrosia spp.) in Europe and discuss the potential associated health impact. We built species distribution models based on presence-only data for three ragweed species, using MAXENT software. Future climatic habitat suitability was modeled under two IPCC climate change scenarios (RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5). We quantify the extent of the increase in 'high allergy risk' (HAR) areas, i.e., parts of Europe with climatic conditions corresponding to the highest quartile (25%) of present day habitat suitability for each of the three species. We estimate that by year 2100, the distribution range of all three ragweed species increases towards Northern and Eastern Europe under all climate scenarios. HAR areas will expand in Europe by 27-100%, depending on species and climate scenario. Novel HAR areas will occur mostly in Denmark, France, Germany, Russia and the Baltic countries, and overlap with densely populated cities such as Paris and St. Petersburg. We conclude that areas in Europe affected by severe ragweed associated allergy problems are likely to increase substantially by year 2100, affecting millions of people. To avoid this, management strategies must be developed that restrict ragweed dispersal and establishment of new populations. Precautionary efforts should limit the spread of ragweed seeds and reduce existing populations. Only by applying cross-countries management plans can managers mitigate future health risks and economical consequences of a ragweed expansion in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Rasmussen
- Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
- Astma-Allergi Danmark, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Jakob Thyrring
- Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Robert Muscarella
- Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
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