The analysis of birch pollen season in selected cities of Poland in 2021 Original article

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Published: Mar 4, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24292/01.AP.181040322
Keywords:
birch (Betula), pollen concentration, allergens

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Joanna Rapiejko
Allergen Research Center, Warsaw, Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9832-0413
Małgorzata Puc
Institute of Marine & Environmental Sciences, University of Szczecin, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6734-9352
Małgorzata Malkiewicz
Laboratory of Paleobotany, Department of Stratigraphical Geology, Insitute of Geological Sciences,University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6768-7968
Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko
Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3827-3218
Monika Ziemianin
Department of Clinical and Environmental Allergology, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4568-8710
Grzegorz Siergiejko
Pediatrics, Gastroenterology and Allergology Department, University Children Hospital, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4084-8332
Katarzyna Dąbrowska-Zapart
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8976-7739
Dariusz Jurkiewicz
Department of Otolaryngology with Division of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery in Military Institute of Medicine, Warsaw, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3729-2679
Agnieszka Lipiec
Department of Prevention of Environmental Hazards, Allergology and Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3037-2326

Abstract

The study aims to monitor the birch pollen season in selected Polish cities: Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Cracow, Lublin, Olsztyn, Opole, Sosnowiec, Szczecin, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Zielona Gora in 2021. Pollen concentrations were recorded using a Burkard type sampler operating in a continuous volumetric mode. The birch pollen season of 2021 started during the first and second decade of April. In south-western Poland it began about 10 days earlier (April 7th or 10th) than in north-eastern regions (April 18th or 19th). The average length of the season was 31 days. The highest daily concentrations and annual pollen grains sum (seasonal pollen integral) were the most variable season characteristics. The maximum concentrations of birch pollen were recorded between April 21st (in Wroclaw) and May 1st (in Sosnowiec and Warsaw). It ranged from 222 p/m3 in Cracow up to 1997 p/m3 in Wroclaw. SPI was the lowest in Cracow (1573) and Sosnowiec (1763) and the highest in Bydgoszcz (5474) and Wroclaw (5072). The longest exposure to high concentrations of birch pollen, lasting 16–18 days, was detected in Szczecin, Olsztyn and Bydgoszcz. The abundance of birch pollen in Poland in 2021 was not as high as in 2019 and 2020, which, combined with the protective effect of mouth and nose masks due to COVID-19 pandemic, may have resulted in less severe allergy symptoms in sensitized individuals than in previous years.

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How to Cite
Rapiejko, J., Puc, M., Malkiewicz, M., Piotrowska-Weryszko, K., Ziemianin, M., Siergiejko, G., Dąbrowska-Zapart, K., Jurkiewicz, D., & Lipiec, A. (2022). The analysis of birch pollen season in selected cities of Poland in 2021. Alergoprofil, 18(1), 29-34. https://doi.org/10.24292/01.AP.181040322
Issue
Vol 18 No 1 (2022)
Section
MEDICAL AEROBIOLOGY
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright: © Medical Education sp. z o.o. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.

Address reprint requests to: Medical Education, Marcin Kuźma (marcin.kuzma@mededu.pl)

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