Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität, Strubergasse 21, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; Research Group Aerobiology and Pollen Information, Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Research Group Aerobiology and Pollen Information, Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Environ Pollut. 2020 Aug;263(Pt A):114526. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114526. Epub 2020 Apr 6.
Air pollution is a threat to the general population, especially to pollen allergy sufferers in urban environments. Different air quality parameters have hitherto been examined which add to the burden of pollen allergy sufferers. Parameters such as NO, SO, PM, PM, and O are supposed to have additional impact, not only on health in general (increase in asthma, allergy sensitization frequency), but also on pollen grains (increase of allergenicity). However, it remains unknown if those air quality parameters increase symptom severity during the pollen season. We selected the birch, grass, and ragweed pollen seasons as different time periods throughout the year and analyzed the relationship of symptom data to pollen, air quality, and meteorological data (temperature, relative humidity) for the metropolis of Vienna (Austria). A linear regression model was computed based on different symptom data, and both pollen and air quality data were tested simultaneously. Ozone was positively and significantly associated with symptom scores in all three seasons, whereas this was only rarely the case with other pollutants. Therefore, only ozone was selected for further analysis in a model including meteorological parameters. In this model, effect estimates of ozone were attenuated but remained significant for the grass pollen season. The lack of significance in the other seasons may be attributed to the less numerous symptom data entries and the shorter duration of the pollen seasons for birch and ragweed. All other air quality parameters usually showed lower concentrations during the pollen seasons and displayed little variation. This might explain the lack of a clear signal. Our results suggest that today's allergic population is already affected by air quality (rising O levels). Air quality should be considered as well in pollen information and pollen allergy studies in general because of its increasing importance in the light of global warming.
空气污染对一般人群构成威胁，尤其对城市环境中的花粉过敏患者构成威胁。迄今为止，已经研究了不同的空气质量参数，这些参数增加了花粉过敏患者的负担。NO、SO、PM、PM 和 O 等参数除了对一般健康（哮喘、过敏致敏频率增加）产生影响外，还对花粉粒（增加致敏性）产生额外影响。然而，目前尚不清楚这些空气质量参数是否会在花粉季节增加症状严重程度。我们选择了桦树、草和豚草花粉季节作为全年的不同时间段，并分析了症状数据与花粉、空气质量和气象数据（温度、相对湿度）之间的关系，这些数据来自维也纳（奥地利）大都市。基于不同的症状数据计算了线性回归模型，并同时测试了花粉和空气质量数据。臭氧与所有三个季节的症状评分呈正相关且具有统计学意义，而其他污染物则很少出现这种情况。因此，仅选择臭氧用于包括气象参数在内的模型中的进一步分析。在这个模型中，臭氧的效应估计值减弱，但在草花粉季节仍然显著。在其他季节缺乏显著性可能归因于症状数据项较少且桦树和豚草花粉季节持续时间较短。所有其他空气质量参数通常在花粉季节的浓度较低且变化较小。这可能解释了缺乏明显信号的原因。我们的结果表明，当今的过敏人群已经受到空气质量（O 水平上升）的影响。由于全球变暖，空气质量在花粉信息和花粉过敏研究中变得越来越重要，因此应该考虑空气质量。
