Urban pollen: sampling, identification, and forecasting

接触致敏花粉是发生呼吸道过敏的危险因素，因此是公众健康的重大问题。可能引发过敏和哮喘的花粉来自树木、草和杂草，其浓度在空间和时间上都有所不同。因此，花粉监测是研究和保健中的重要工具，但人们对城市内花粉水平的变化以及这种变化是否会影响过敏性疾病的发展或恶化知之甚少。目前进行的花粉监测存在两个主要缺陷。其中之一是，花粉浓度通常是从一个单一的站点获得的，预计该站点代表了大片地理区域的暴露，而没有考虑城市内浓度的空间变化。第二，由于近缘物种之间的形态差异可以忽略不计，通过显微镜很少在物种水平上识别出花粉粒，目前尚不清楚特定物种是否比其他物种对过敏症状和相关疾病的流行有更大的贡献。该项目的主要目标是：(1)开发和实施一个大型城市花粉监测网络，能够准确地反映大城市空气中花粉浓度的变异性；以及(2)利用分子工具，将树木、草和杂草的花粉类型协调到物种水平。这些信息将使我们能够(3)模拟和预测不同种类的花粉的浓度，并探索与人类健康结果的联系。该项目与魁北克卫生和社会服务部、魁北克国家公共卫生研究所和蒙特利尔市合作，是朝着改善监测和预测花粉以提供公共卫生信息的方式迈出的重要一步，并将有助于开发决策支持工具，以更好地管理过敏。不同行为者之间的协同作用及其积极作用是一项重大资产，从长远来看，也是我们项目成功的保证。该项目的成果，从改进花粉预测到减少与城市环境中接触花粉有关的健康风险，将对花粉过敏症或过敏性哮喘患者以及整个社会具有最大的价值。

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.