Analysis of Pollen Concentrations from Various Tree Pollen Types and Their Interrelation with Different Airborne Pollutants in the Madrid Region (Spain)

Abstract

Several studies show that the interaction between airborne pollutants and pollen grains can lead to greater pollen allergenicity, and thus increase and exacerbate the incidence of pollinosis, all of which represents a major public health problem. This article analyses the possible influence of various airborne pollutants (O3, PM10 and PM2.5, NO2, CO and SO2) on the tree-type pollen grains of Cupressaceae, Olea, Platanus, Pinus, Ulmus and Populus. The 11 areas around the stations in the Madrid Region’s pollen monitoring network (Red Palinocam) were taken as a geographic reference for this study. The degree of interaction between airborne pollutants and pollen types was explored using the rank correlation analysis. O3 and NO2 are the pollutants with the highest rate of significant correlations with pollen types. Olea, Cupressaceae and Platanus—the most highly allergenic in this study—are among the pollen types with the greatest number of significant correlations with almost all the air pollutants in the different areas. This could point to a potential associative effect between both variables which would exacerbate the negative effects on public health.