Plant Food Allergens: Another Climate Change–Public Health Link

Abstract

Vol. 117, No. 5 PerspectivesOpen AccessPlant Food Allergens: Another Climate Change–Public Health Link Paul John Beggs Paul John Beggs Search for more papers by this author Published:1 May 2009https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900670Cited by:2AboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InReddit The recent article titled “Rising CO2, Climate Change, and Public Health: Exploring the Links to Plant Biology” (Ziska et al. 2009) is an interesting and useful commentary on this important topic. Although some aspects of the article have been considered in some detail previously, such as the impacts of climate change and elevated carbon dioxide on aerobiology (e.g., Beggs 2004; Confalonieri et al. 2007) and the human health implications of this (e.g., Beggs and Bambrick 2005; Shea et al. 2008), the broader review of links between climate change, plant biology, and human health, particularly the examination of toxicology and pharmacology, is timely and brings together a number of somewhat distinct areas of research.In their article, Ziska et al. (2009) mentioned the potential impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on ragweed pollen allergenicity and poison ivy toxicity, and therefore considered respiratory allergies and contact dermatitis, respectively. Surprisingly, however, these authors did not recognize that there is a third major mechanism for human contact with plant allergens: ingestion. In an article published in Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, I (Beggs and Walczyk 2008) proposed, for the first time, a link between climate change and plant food allergens, such as peanut, and the rise of associated diseases. There is potential for such impacts in the future, but they may have already occurred (Beggs and Walczyk 2008).I agree that the plant biology aspect of climate change and human health is underappreciated, and I also strongly support Ziska et al.’s (2009) highlighting of the many key questions that remain to be addressed and the urgent need to find answers to these questions. Studies should also investigate the impacts of climate change, particularly elevated CO2, on plant food allergens, especially their relative concentrations.ReferencesBeggs PJ. 2004. Impacts of climate change on aeroallergens: past and future. Clin Exp Allergy 34:1507-151315479264. Crossref, Medline, Google ScholarBeggs PJ, Bambrick HJ. 2005. Is the global rise of asthma an early impact of anthropogenic climate change?Environ Health Perspect 113:915-91916079058. Link, Google ScholarBeggs PJ, Walczyk NE. 2008. Impacts of climate change on plant food allergens: a previously unrecognized threat to human health. Air Qual Atmos Health 1:119-123. Crossref, Google ScholarConfalonieri U, Menne B, Akhtar R, Ebi KL, Hauengue M, Kovats RSet al., Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE. 2007. Human health. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeCambridge, UKCambridge University Press391-431. Google ScholarShea KM, Truckner RT, Weber RW, Peden DB. 2008. Climate change and allergic disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol 122:443-45318774380. Crossref, Medline, Google ScholarZiska LH, Epstein PR, Schlesinger WH. 2009. Rising CO2, climate change, and public health: exploring the links to plant biology. Environ Health Perspect 117:155-15819270781. Link, Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited by Tomassetti B, Lombardi A, Cerasani E, Di Sabatino A, Pace L, Ammazzalorso D and Verdecchia M (2012) Mapping of Alternaria and Pleospora concentrations in Central Italy using meteorological forecast and neural network estimator, Aerobiologia, 10.1007/s10453-012-9262-2, 29:1, (55-70), Online publication date: 1-Mar-2013. Bielory L, Lyons K and Goldberg R (2012) Climate Change and Allergic Disease, Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, 10.1007/s11882-012-0314-z, 12:6, (485-494), Online publication date: 1-Dec-2012. Vol. 117, No. 5 May 2009Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 May 2009Published in print1 May 2009 Financial disclosuresPDF download License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.