Study of atmospheric pollen and major air pollutant concentrations in relation with meteorological conditions in Bucharest, Romania

<p><em>Abstract</em></p><p>&#160;</p><p>Pollen levels in rapidly developing urban areas are of particular interest due to their negative impact on human health, being responsible for the increasing prevalence of seasonal allergic diseases. The objective of present work is to analyze the potential links through correlations or anti-correlations between variations of pollen concentrations and the major atmospheric pollutant concentrations PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO_x, CO, VOCs, O₃, SO₂ and/or meteorological conditions. The research was carried out in the city of Bucharest, in the largest urban agglomeration (Bucharest-Ilfov) in Romania. The main allergenic plants in Bucharest are tress, grasses and weeds species, which pollinate from early spring to late summer-fall. Mass concentrations of air pollutants PM10, PM2.5, NOx, CO, VOCs, O3, SO2 were extracted from the Bucharest air quality database, monitoring belonging to the Bucharest Air Quality Monitoring Network. Hourly data were converted to daily means. Computations, graphs and statistical analysis were performed using R software with the Openair package [1]. The present study confirms the seasonal pattern of the main allergenic pollen in Bucharest area. Fluctuations between maximum and minimum values of the observed pollen concentration correspond to the bi-annual sequence of the flowering. The dominant presence of tree pollen particles is observed in spring, of grass pollen particles mainly in summer, and pollen particles from weeds appear in late summer and early autumn. Weather conditions significantly influence pollen concentration, with temperature, solar radiation and relative humidity being the most influencing factors. The positive correlation was observed between pollen and particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds [2].</p><p><em>Key words</em>: allergenic pollen, meteorological parameters, urban air pollution</p><p>&#160;</p><p>[1] D.C. Carslaw and K. Ropkins, Environ. Model. Softw. 27-28, 52-61 (2012).</p><p>&#160;</p><p>[2] A.-M. Rosianu, P.M. Leru, S. Stefan, G. Iorga, L. Marmureanu, Rom.Rep.Phys. 2021, in press</p><p>&#160;</p><p><strong>Acknowledgements</strong>:</p><p>This work was supported by European Regional Development Fund through Competitiveness Operational Programme 2014&#8211;2020, Action 1.1.3 creating synergies with H2020 programme, project Support Center for European project management and European promotion, MYSMIS code 107874, ctr. no. 253/2.06.2020, Romanian National Core Program Contract No.18N/2019. AMR was supported by the University of Bucharest, PhD research grant. GI acknowledges the support from NO Grants 2014-2021, under Project EEA-RO-NO-2019-0423, contract no 31/01.09.2020. The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of AM Eftimie (chemist) and VF Anton, MD, members of the Allergology Research team of Colentina Clinical Hospital who helped in pollen collection and measurements and the National Air Quality Monitoring Network (NAQMN, www.calitateaer.ro) for free access to air pollutant database. Present research [2] was accepted for publication and is currently in press at Romanian Reports in Physics (http://www.rrp.infim.ro/IP/AP604.pdf).</p>