Regional and seasonal variation in airborne grass pollen levels between cities of Australia and New Zealand

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beggs PJ ; Bowman DMJS ; Burton PK ; Campbell BC ; Davies JM ; Erbas B ; Godwin I ; Green, Brett J. ; Haberle SG ; Huete AR ; Jaggard AK ; Johnston FH ; Katelaris CH ; Medek DE ; Newbigin E ; Newnham RM ; Vicendese D
• Description:
  Although grass pollen is widely regarded as the major outdoor aeroallergen source in Australia and New Zealand (NZ), no assemblage of airborne pollen data for the region has been previously compiled. Grass pollen count data collected at 14 urban sites in Australia and NZ over periods ranging from one to 17 years were acquired, assembled and compared, revealing considerable spatiotemporal variability. Grass pollen seasons tended to have more than one peak from tropics to latitudes of 37 degrees S and single peaks at sites south of this latitude. A longer grass pollen season was therefore found at sites below 37 degrees S, driven by later seasonal end dates for grass growth and flowering. Daily pollen counts increased with latitude; subtropical regions had seasons of both high intensity and long duration. At higher latitude sites the single springtime grass pollen peak is potentially due to a cooler growing season and a predominance of pollen from C3 grasses. The multiple peaks at lower latitude sites may be due to a warmer season and the predominance of pollen from C4 grasses. Prevalence and duration of seasonal allergies may reflect the differing pollen seasons across Australia and NZ. Spatiotemporal differences in grass pollen counts indicate that local, current, standardized pollen monitoring would assist with the management of pollen allergen exposure for patients at risk of allergic rhinitis and asthma. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Asthma Asthma, Occupational Biological Factors Dust Hypersensitivity Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Allergens Australia Author Keywords: Aerobiology Biological-effects Biological-factors Bronchial-asthma Grass Pollen Latitude New Zealand Particulate-dust Particulates Phenology Seasonal-factors

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• ISSN:
  0393-5965
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  289-302
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046828
• Citation:
  Aerobiologia 2016 Jun; 32(2):289-302
• Contact Point Address:
  Danielle Medek, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115
• Email:
  danielle.medek@gmail.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Aerobiologia
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:13f6e31ba6f25e1e1d66c7cdc6bfb1ce1456ed48fb095e066f710dac3e6b5f1f7f68cf86a87b56c9d304d60122861be698641a319f39ff67a2bf4023c6d84ae9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202122/cdc_202122_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.84 MB ]