Allergy season makes live miserable for a lot of people. Air pollution has been found to aggravate this problem even further. The German Research Centre for Environmental Health reported allergenicity in ragweed pollen is increased by air pollution.
Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München in Germany say that there are higher concentrations of allergen from the pollen of the common ragweed, or Ambrosia artemisiifolia, when this plant is exposed to nitrogen dioxide exhaust gases. The researchers said various isoforms of the known allergen Amb a 1 were notably elevated when exposed to this pollution. The scientists have also found the possibility of a new allergen in the plant.
Study leader Dr. Ulrike Frank has said it can be anticipated that air pollution will make the already aggressive Ambrosia pollen even more allergenic in the future. This is significant because ragweed pollen is extremely aggressive. This pollen is the primary cause of hay fever and other allergies in the United States. It has already been shown in other studies that Ambrosia which is growing along highways is more allergenic than Ambrosia plants which are growing further away from road traffic.
This study has been published in the journal Plant, Cell & Environment. Ragweed pollen has been noted to be the primary cause of allergenic illnesses in Northern America. This weed has been spreading rapidly in Europe. Climate change and air pollution have been speculated to affect the allergenic potential of ragweed pollen.
The new research data points to a direct influence of elevated NO2 in air pollution to increased allergenicity of ragweed pollen. This has been correlated with an increased risk for the health of people. Clearly if we want to appropriately address the problem of ragweed pollen causing allergies we must also be concerned about how air pollution affects this problem.
