Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, P. O. Box 453064, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA.
School of Medicine and School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Environ Monit Assess. 2018 Jun 25;190(7):424. doi: 10.1007/s10661-018-6738-8.
The urbanization of the Las Vegas Valley has transformed this part of the Mohave Desert into a green oasis by introducing many non-native plant species, some of which are allergenic. Typically, one monitoring station is established per city to obtain pollen counts for an entire metropolitan area. However, variations in pollen concentrations could occur among different microenvironments. The objective of this study is to measure and compare pollen concentrations in five locations in Las Vegas to determine if there are significant differences between microenvironments within the city. Air samples were collected from five sites across the Las Vegas Valley over a 1-year period. Prepared slides were analyzed with a light microscope for pollen grains and converted into airborne pollen concentrations. Mixed model methods were used to determine mean differences. Tree pollen was the greatest contributor to the annual average airborne pollen concentrations (130 grains/m) compared to weeds (6 grains/m) and grass (3 grains/m). The highest peak occurred in March 2016 (9589 total grains/m). There were several differences among sites with respect to concentrations of individual tree species and for total weed and grass concentrations. We observed significant variations in concentration and composition among the five pollen collection stations that were established across the Las Vegas Valley. This study presented new outdoor pollen data for the southwest region of the USA, focused in Las Vegas. The results indicate that more sites and comprehensive monitoring of outdoor allergens are needed to provide accurate information to the community about outdoor air quality conditions.
拉斯维加斯谷的城市化进程通过引入许多非本地植物物种，将莫哈韦沙漠的这一部分变成了一个绿色的绿洲，其中一些物种具有致敏性。通常，每个城市都会设立一个监测站来获取整个大都市区的花粉计数。然而，不同微环境中的花粉浓度可能会有所不同。本研究的目的是测量和比较拉斯维加斯五个地点的花粉浓度，以确定城市内不同微环境之间是否存在显著差异。在一年的时间里，从拉斯维加斯谷的五个地点采集了空气样本。用显微镜分析制备好的载玻片上的花粉粒，并将其转换为空气中的花粉浓度。采用混合模型方法确定平均差异。与杂草（6 粒/米）和草（3 粒/米）相比，树木花粉是年平均空气花粉浓度（130 粒/米）的最大贡献者。2016 年 3 月出现最高峰值（总花粉 9589 粒/米）。各个地点的个别树种浓度以及杂草和草的总浓度存在差异。我们观察到在拉斯维加斯谷设立的五个花粉采集站之间的浓度和组成存在显著差异。本研究提供了美国西南部（重点在拉斯维加斯）新的户外花粉数据。结果表明，需要更多的站点和对户外过敏原的全面监测，以便向社区提供有关户外空气质量状况的准确信息。
