Institute of Construction Science "Eduardo Torroja" IETcc., CSICC/Serrano Galvache , 4 Madrid, 28033 Spain.
Environ Sci Technol. 2013 Oct 15;47(20):11711-6. doi: 10.1021/es402467x. Epub 2013 Sep 24.
Airborne pollen is a worldwide problem because is a very important allergenic agent; it can be altered only by certain microorganisms and by some oxidizers, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). On the other hand, heterogeneous photocatalysis (HPC) arose as a promising technology for reducing the level of contaminants in the air, based on their degradation by the production of ROS. In this paper, study of the feasibility of HPC to diminish the counts of pollen is undertaken. The research has been carried out at different levels, from solutions to mortar specimens with the evidence that HPC is able to reduce the amount of pollen grains. This is a major breakthrough that opens the door to a whole field of research, already full of gaps, whose implications could be quite controversial.
空气中的花粉是一个全球性的问题，因为它是一种非常重要的过敏原；它只能被某些微生物和一些氧化剂（如活性氧物种（ROS））改变。另一方面，异质相光催化（HPC）作为一种有前途的技术出现，用于通过产生 ROS 来降低空气中污染物的水平。在本文中，研究了 HPC 减少花粉计数的可行性。该研究已经在不同的水平上进行，从溶液到砂浆标本，证明 HPC 能够减少花粉粒的数量。这是一个重大的突破，为一个充满空白的研究领域打开了大门，其影响可能颇具争议。
