Urban pollen: sampling, identification, and forecasting

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Exposure to allergenic pollen is a risk factor for developing respiratory allergies, and therefore a great cause of concern to public health. Pollen that can trigger allergies and asthma comes from trees, grasses, and weeds, and concentrations vary both spatially and temporally. Therefore, pollen monitoring is an important tool in research and health care but little is known about how pollen levels vary within cities and whether such variation affects the development or exacerbation of allergic diseases. Pollen monitoring, as it is currently carried out, suffers from two major flaws. One is that pollen concentrations are frequently obtained from a single station expected to represent the exposure over a large geographic area, not accounting for the spatial variation of concentrations within a city. Second is that, due to negligible morphological differences between related species, pollen grains are rarely identified to the species level by microscopy and it is unknown whether particular species contribute more to the prevalence of allergy symptoms and related diseases than others. The main objectives of this project are: (1) to develop and implement a large urban pollen monitoring network capable of accurately representing the variability of airborne pollen concentrations across a large city; and, (2) using molecular tools, reconcile tree, grass and weed pollen types to species level. This information will allow us to (3) model and forecast the concentration of the different species of pollen and explore linkages to human health outcomes. This project in partnership with the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Quebec National Institute of Public Health, and the city of Montreal, is a major step forward to improving the way that pollen is monitored and forecasted for the purpose of public health information, and will help develop decision-support tools to better manage allergies. Synergies among the different actors and their active roles are a major asset and, in the long term, a guarantee for the success of our project. The project's outcomes, from improved pollen forecasts to reducing health risks related to exposure to pollen in urban environments, will be of the greatest value for people with pollen allergies or allergic asthma, and society as a whole.