Madeira-a tourist destination for asthma sufferers

Autor: Agnieszka Grinn-Gofroń, Roberto Camacho, Magdalena Sadyś, Pedro Berenguer, Irene Camacho
Předmět:
Male
Atmospheric Science
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Allergy
Health
Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Air pollution
Aerobiology
010501 environmental sciences
medicine.disease_cause
01 natural sciences
Holiday
Faculdade de Ciências da Vida
Environmental monitoring
Child
Circular statistics
Aged
80 and over
Air Pollutants
Ecology
biology
Alternaria
Middle Aged
Spores
Fungal
Geography
Child
Preschool
Pollen
Female
Seasons
Madeira (Portugal)
Emergency Service
Hospital
Cladosporium
Environmental Monitoring
Adult
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Indoor bioaerosol
Meteorological parameters
Magnoliopsida
Young Adult
medicine
Humans
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Aged
Portugal
Infant
Newborn
Infant
Allergens
biology.organism_classification
Asthma
Spore
Physical geography
Species richness
Zdroj: Europe PubMed Central
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
instacron:RCAAP
Popis: Madeira Island is a famous tourist destination due to its natural and climatic values. Taking into account optimal weather conditions, flora richness and access to various substrates facilitating fungal growth, we hypothesised a very high risk of elevated fungal spore and pollen grain concentrations in the air of Funchal, the capital of Madeira. Concentration levels of the most allergenic taxa were measured from 2003 to 2009, using a 7-day volumetric air sampler, followed by microscopy analysis. Dependence of bioaerosols on the weather conditions and land use were assessed using spatial and statistical tools. Obtained results were re-visited by a comparison with hospital admission data recorded at the Dr. Nelio Mendonca Hospital in Funchal. Our results showed that despite propitious climatic conditions, overall pollen grain and fungal spore concentrations in the air were very low and did not exceed any clinically established threshold values. Pollen and spore peak concentrations also did not match with asthma outbreaks in the winter. Identification of places that are "free" from biological air pollution over the summer, such as Madeira Island, is very important from the allergic point of view.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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