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Indoor and outdoor pollen concentrations in private and public spaces during the Betula pollen season

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Abstract

Although the number of studies of pollen concentrations inside and outside buildings is increasing, little is known about the efficiency of penetration of pollen from outdoor to indoor air, and further. We studied indoor and outdoor pollen concentrations in the town of Lappeenranta and in the municipality of Rautjärvi in SE Finland from May 3–23, 2004, i.e. throughout the Betula pollen season, and assessed the risk of exposure to pollen grains. Pollen concentrations were measured inside and outside a block of flats, a detached house, and the regional central hospital, using rotorod-type samplers; in the town of Joutseno data were compared with Burkard counts. Outdoor concentrations of Betula pollen grains ranged between low and abundant (0–855 grains m−3). The corresponding indoor concentrations near the main front doors varied from low to moderate (0–17 grains m−3) in the central hospital and were low (<10 grains m−3) in both residential buildings. Indoor concentrations further from the main front door were low (<10 grains m−3) at all study sites. The concentrations of Betula pollen decreased substantially from outdoors to indoors, and further toward the centre of the building, probably indicating relatively poor penetrating properties of the pollen grains and/or the short-lived presence of pollen grains in indoor air. The concentrations of Betula pollen inside the buildings during the peak flowering period were mostly at a level barely inducing reactions even in the most sensitive persons.

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Abbreviations

rpm:

Rotations per minute

I/O:

Indoor/outdoor

SD:

Standard deviation

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Jouni Jaakkola and Dr Kimmo Saarinen for their comments on the earlier draft and Dr Juha Jantunen for technical assistance with illustration.

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  1. South Karelia Allergy and Environment Institute, Joutseno, Finland

    Timo Hugg

  2. Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, 20014, Finland

    Timo Hugg & Auli Rantio-Lehtimäki

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  1. Timo Hugg
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  2. Auli Rantio-Lehtimäki
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Correspondence to Timo Hugg.

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Hugg, T., Rantio-Lehtimäki, A. Indoor and outdoor pollen concentrations in private and public spaces during the Betula pollen season. Aerobiologia 23, 119–129 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-007-9057-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-007-9057-z

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