Importance of the quality management of aerobiological monitoring networks: The case study of Madrid Region in Spain.

Interest in biological air quality monitoring is rising, and updated public information is increasingly demanded by stakeholders in the case of airborne pollen, which requires maintaining high standards of data quality. The number of aerobiological stations worldwide is continuously growing, and quality management is becoming more complex with the increase in the scale of aerobiological networks. Quality control exercises are crucial for maintaining the quality of the data used in the pollen monitoring routine over time.

Increased rupture of cypress pollen type due to atmospheric water in central and southeastern Spain.

This study aims to investigate the meteorological variables determining Cupressaceae pollen grain disruption in the environment. A parallel sampling of pollen grains and disrupted Cupressaceae pollen grains was performed in six cities using two Spanish aerobiological networks. The pollen concentrations, disrupted pollen concentrations, percentage of disrupted pollen and number of days when the percentage of disrupted pollen was above or equal to 50 % were quantified during two pollen seasons.

Assessment of environmental risk areas based on airborne pollen patterns as a response to land use and land cover distribution.

Allergic respiratory diseases are considered to be among the most important public health concerns, and pollen is the main cause of allergic respiratory diseases worldwide. However, the biological component of air quality is largely underestimated, and there is an important gap in the legislation in this area. The aims of this study were to characterise the occurrence and incidence of pollen exposure in relation to potential pollen sources and to delineate the main areas of aerobiological risk in the Madrid Autonomous Region based on homogeneous patterns of pollen exposure.

Environmental drivers of the seasonal exposure to airborne Alternaria spores in Spain.

Alternaria conidia have high allergenic potential and they can trigger important respiratory diseases. Due to that and to their extensive detection period, airborne Alternaria spores are considered as a relevant airborne allergenic particle. Several studies have been developed in order to predict the human exposure to this aeroallergen and to prevent their negative effects on sensitive population.

Causes of increased pollen exposure during Saharan-Sahel dust intrusions.

Airborne particulate matter such as mineral dust comes mainly from natural sources, and the African regions of Sahara and Sahel originate large amounts of the aerosols dispersed worldwide. There is little knowledge about the influence of dust episodes on airborne pollen concentrations, and although the centre and southeast of the Iberian Peninsula are frequently affected by dust intrusions, until now, no specific works have analysed the effect of these episodes on airborne pollen concentrations in these areas. The aims of this study were to analyse the simultaneous occurrence of airborne pollen peaks and Saharan-Sahel dust intrusions in the central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula, and to study the weather conditions - air mass pathways and conditions of air temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric pressure - that influence the airborne pollen concentrations during dust episodes.