STUDIES ON CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTANTS ON AIRBORNE POLLEN IN URBANAREA OF JAPAN

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adverse factors influencing by air pollutants and to aid biomedical research by investigating the deposition of air pollutants on Japanese cedar pollen between urban and mountainous areas. Suspended particulate matter and Japanese cedar perigonium pollen were collected to identify the deposition of air pollutants at Saitama urban area and a mountainous area, during the pollination season. Ionic and metallic components of these samples and perigonium and pollen were analyzed. We found that crustal components (Al, Fe and Ti) tended to deposit on perigonium pollen. The amount of ionic components of particles (NO_3^-, SO_4^<2-> and NH_4^+) and gaseous pollutants (NO_2, SO_2 and NH_3) deposited on the perigonium pollen were higher in the urban than in the mountainous areas, the fact of which was proven by determination of gaseous pollutants exposed to Japanese cedar pollen. It is suggested that these phenomena may affect pollinosis and therefore … More it is necessary to investigate implication on biomedical researches.In addition, morphological observation of Ubisch bodies exfoliated from pollen and ruptured pollens was performed and confirmed with a scanning electron microscope. Moreover, the existing evidences of visualized Cry j 1 and Cry j 2 allergen particles below 1.1 μm were also sensitively found by an immunofluorescence technique with a fluorescence microscope. Simultaneously, the high concentrations of Cry j 1 and/or Cry j 2 were determined in the fine particle sizes below 1.1 μm. It was suggested that airborne respirable particulate matters containing Cry j 1 and Cry j 2 play a key role in the increasing incidence of asthma in the lower respiratory tract. Furthermore, since Cry j 1 (or Cry j 2) fine particles were suspended in the atmosphere over a long time more after released, the daily variation delays in the peaks of these concentrations compared with the peaks of airborne pollen counts were observed. It is important to observe and determine the size distribution of airborne Japanese cedar pollen allergen particles in the long-term sampling research continually, and to elucidate the allergen particle release mechanisms. Less