engleski

Atmospheric pollen season in Zagreb (Croatia) and its relationship with temperature and precipitation

The number of individuals allergenic to plant pollen has recently been on a constant increase, especially in large cities and industrial areas.Therefore, monitoring of airborne pollen types and concentrations during the pollen season is of the utmost medical importance.The research reported in this paper aims to determine the beginning, course and end of the pollen season for the plants in the City of Zagreb, to identify allergenic plants, and to assess the variation in airborne pollen concentration as a function of temperature and precipitation changes for the year 2002. In the Zagreb area, 12 groups of highly allergenic plants (adler, hazel, cypress, birch, ash, hornbeam, grasses, elder, nettles, sweet chestnut, artemisia, and ambrosia)were identified. Air temperature was mostly higher or considerably higher than the annual average in those months, which resulted in a many days with high and very high airborne pollen concentrations.Pollen sensitive individuals were at high risk from February till October because of the high airborne pollen concentrations, which only showed a transient decrease when the temperature fell or there was precipitation.

pollen monitoring; allergenic plants; weather conditions; aerobiology; allergy

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