The long distance transport of airborne Ambrosia pollen to the UK and the Netherlands from Central and south Europe.
The invasive alien species Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common or short ragweed) is increasing its range in Europe. In the UK and the Netherlands, airborne concentrations of Ambrosia pollen are usually low. However, more than 30 Ambrosia pollen grains per cubic metre of air (above the level capable to trigger allergic symptoms) were recorded in Leicester (UK) and Leiden (NL) on 4 and 5 September 2014. The aims of this study were to determine whether the highly allergenic Ambrosia pollen recorded during the episode could be the result of long distance transport, to identify the potential sources of these pollen grains and to describe the conditions that facilitated this possible long distance transport. Airborne Ambrosia pollen data were collected at 10 sites in Europe. Back trajectory and atmospheric dispersion calculations were performed using HYSPLIT_4. Back trajectories calculated at Leicester and Leiden show that higher altitude air masses (1500 m) originated from source areas on the Pannonian Plain and Ukraine. During the episode, air masses veered to the west and passed over the Rhône Valley. Dispersion calculations showed that the atmospheric conditions were suitable for Ambrosia pollen released from the Pannonian Plain and the Rhône Valley to reach the higher levels and enter the airstream moving to northwest Europe where they were deposited at ground level and recorded by monitoring sites. The study indicates that the Ambrosia pollen grains recorded during the episode in Leicester and Leiden were probably not produced by local sources but transported long distances from potential source regions in east Europe, i.e. the Pannonian Plain and Ukraine, as well as the Rhône Valley in France.
Department of Pulmonology, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300RC, Leiden, The Netherlands. l.a.de_weger@lumc.nl.
Letty A
LA
de Weger
Institute for Lung Health, Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
Catherine H
CH
Pashley
Laboratory for Palynology, Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.|BioSense Institute, Research Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Branko
B
Šikoparija
National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit, Institute of Science and the Environment, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester, UK.
Carsten A
CA
Skjøth
Department of Environmental Biology, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland.
Idalia
I
Kasprzyk
Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
Łukasz
Ł
Grewling
Reseau National de Surveillance Aerobiologique (RNSA), Brussieu, France.
Michel
M
Thibaudon
Department of Aerobiology and Air Hygiene, National Public Health Center, Budapest, Hungary.
Donat
D
Magyar
Laboratory of Aeropalynology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
Matt
M
Smith
D000392:Air Movements; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000032:analysis*
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D010936:Plant Extracts; C433085:ragweed pollen
Ambrosia; Atmospheric movement; Back trajectory analysis; Long distance transport; Pannonian Plain