Introduction: One of the most important biological component of air is pollen, as its allergens are driver of airborne allergic diseases (1). Pollen allergy has a remarkable clinical impact over Europe. AIS LIFE ENV/IT/001107 project – Aerobiological Information Systems and allergic respiratory disease management (http://www.ais-life.eu), launched in 2014 (2), aims to assess the clinical impact of dissemination of pollen information. In this context, aerobiological monitoring was started in Pisa (Italy) for the first time. This contribution is the first report on aerobiological data ever collected in Pisa. The monitoring covers 21 months of operation of the pollen trap. Materials and Methods: The sampling procedure and the count of the airborne pollen grains and fungal spores is based on UNI 11108:2004. Aerobiological samples were obtained with a “Lanzoni VPPS 2000” pollen trap installed on top of the Biology Department building in Pisa, via Derna 1, about 17 m above the road pavement (coordinates 43.718343° N, 10.395110° E). Pollen grains of eight families: Betulaceae, Cupressaceae – Taxaceae, Asteraceae, Fagacee, Oleaceae, Urticaceae, Poaceae, Platanaceae and spores of Alternaria sp.pl. have been counted every day since 4 November 2014. Cycles of pollination and sporulation, the main pollen seasons (MPS), and the main spore season (MSS) were calculated according to 3, 4. Meteorological data were obtained from www.meteopisa.it and from a weather station placed next to the pollen trap. Results and discussion: We recorded a cumulative value of 25377.55 pollen grains per m3 and 1202.85 fungal spores per m3 from January to May 2016; the same values for the whole 2015 are 38781.49 and 12846.02 respectively. As regards woody species, the highest value was contributed by Cupressaceae – Taxaceae families, with 6820.5 pollen grains in 2016 and 16032.5 in 2015; followed by Platanaceae with 2229.15 pollen grains in 2016 and 1625.03 in 2015; Coryloideae subfamily with 2794.55 pollen grains in 2016 and 866.47 in 2015. As regards MPS, Betuloideae subfamily lasted 79 days in 2016 and 88 in 2015. The starting date for Betuloideae subfamily varied from 32 days in 2016 to 46 in 2015. As regards the ending date, Betuloideae varied with 111 days in 2016 and with 134 days in 2015. The average temperature of the period 1 January-31 March was 10.6°C in 2016 and 9.8°C in 2015; in the same periods total rainfall was 391 mm and 205 mm respectively. Therefore our data may suggest a correlation between pollen concentration of woody species and meteorological factors, consistent with observations reported in other studies (5). Conclusions: The aerobiological monitoring campaign started in Pisa in 2014 is providing scientific data in support of an on-going European project addressing the clinical impact of dissemination of airborne pollen information. The aerobiological monitoring represents a unique tool to supply local real data to allergologists, enabling them to calibrate the drugs therapy for their patients and providing immediate advantages both for patients' health and for better management of the national healthcare system (6). The data obtained from the aerobiological monitoring will be useful for other applications as well, from biology and medicine to agriculture. Analysis of changes in MPS and MSS may help in detecting local changes in climate factors.

First aerobiological monitoring data in Pisa (Italy) within AIS-LIFE project

BEDINI, GIANNI;RUGGIERO, FRANCO
2016-01-01

Abstract

Introduction: One of the most important biological component of air is pollen, as its allergens are driver of airborne allergic diseases (1). Pollen allergy has a remarkable clinical impact over Europe. AIS LIFE ENV/IT/001107 project – Aerobiological Information Systems and allergic respiratory disease management (http://www.ais-life.eu), launched in 2014 (2), aims to assess the clinical impact of dissemination of pollen information. In this context, aerobiological monitoring was started in Pisa (Italy) for the first time. This contribution is the first report on aerobiological data ever collected in Pisa. The monitoring covers 21 months of operation of the pollen trap. Materials and Methods: The sampling procedure and the count of the airborne pollen grains and fungal spores is based on UNI 11108:2004. Aerobiological samples were obtained with a “Lanzoni VPPS 2000” pollen trap installed on top of the Biology Department building in Pisa, via Derna 1, about 17 m above the road pavement (coordinates 43.718343° N, 10.395110° E). Pollen grains of eight families: Betulaceae, Cupressaceae – Taxaceae, Asteraceae, Fagacee, Oleaceae, Urticaceae, Poaceae, Platanaceae and spores of Alternaria sp.pl. have been counted every day since 4 November 2014. Cycles of pollination and sporulation, the main pollen seasons (MPS), and the main spore season (MSS) were calculated according to 3, 4. Meteorological data were obtained from www.meteopisa.it and from a weather station placed next to the pollen trap. Results and discussion: We recorded a cumulative value of 25377.55 pollen grains per m3 and 1202.85 fungal spores per m3 from January to May 2016; the same values for the whole 2015 are 38781.49 and 12846.02 respectively. As regards woody species, the highest value was contributed by Cupressaceae – Taxaceae families, with 6820.5 pollen grains in 2016 and 16032.5 in 2015; followed by Platanaceae with 2229.15 pollen grains in 2016 and 1625.03 in 2015; Coryloideae subfamily with 2794.55 pollen grains in 2016 and 866.47 in 2015. As regards MPS, Betuloideae subfamily lasted 79 days in 2016 and 88 in 2015. The starting date for Betuloideae subfamily varied from 32 days in 2016 to 46 in 2015. As regards the ending date, Betuloideae varied with 111 days in 2016 and with 134 days in 2015. The average temperature of the period 1 January-31 March was 10.6°C in 2016 and 9.8°C in 2015; in the same periods total rainfall was 391 mm and 205 mm respectively. Therefore our data may suggest a correlation between pollen concentration of woody species and meteorological factors, consistent with observations reported in other studies (5). Conclusions: The aerobiological monitoring campaign started in Pisa in 2014 is providing scientific data in support of an on-going European project addressing the clinical impact of dissemination of airborne pollen information. The aerobiological monitoring represents a unique tool to supply local real data to allergologists, enabling them to calibrate the drugs therapy for their patients and providing immediate advantages both for patients' health and for better management of the national healthcare system (6). The data obtained from the aerobiological monitoring will be useful for other applications as well, from biology and medicine to agriculture. Analysis of changes in MPS and MSS may help in detecting local changes in climate factors.
2016
978-88-85915-18-3
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/844428
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