Application of the personal aeroallergen sampler to assess personal exposures to Japanese cedar and cypress pollens

Abstract

We have recently developed the Personal Aeroallergen Sampler (PAAS), a passive sampler for aeroallergens. In the present study, the applicability of the PAAS for personal exposure assessments of cedar and cypress pollens was investigated by comparing with existing reference samplers. To investigate the usability of the PAAS as a personal sampler for the airborne pollens, it was compared with the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) sampler, a traditionally used active personal sampler. Overall, the result showed a good correlation between the two methods, that is, R(2)=0.8082, suggesting the usability of the PAAS for the personal pollen samplings. The ratio of the pollen numbers collected by the PAAS to the IOM sampler was approximately 30%, which was consistent with our previous study investigating ambient dust particles. Meanwhile, the comparability of the PAAS to the Durham sampler, the most widely used stationary pollen trap, was also assured. Furthermore, we exemplified the seasonal peak of the personal pollen exposures was not necessarily reflected by the outdoor concentrations, indicating insufficiency of the stationary outdoor monitoring to represent the personal pollen exposures. The PAAS, a simple passive method, could be used in future field studies to elucidate the detailed mechanisms of allergic airway diseases such as cedar pollinosis.