Picture: Pollen attack season ahead of us/Google
By OBAKENG MAJE
The North West University (NWU) Subject Chair and Associate Professor for the School for Geo- and Spatial Sciences, Prof Frank Neumann warns about alien pollen as winter ends. Neumann said that even though spring entered with sunny pleasantness, thousands of “attackers” sprang into action to plague the part of the population that suffers from allergies and hay fever.
He further said these assailants have one thing in common.
“They are mostly alien pollen that should not have been in South Africa in the first place. They come from plants that are often under climatic stress because they are unsuited to this climate and constantly release high amounts of pollen at short intervals.
“These culprits are exotic trees and plants found in South African gardens originating from Europe, Asia, and North America in the Northern Hemisphere. They begin to pollinate from August onwards, with fungi joining soon after the first spring rains,” said Neumann.
He added that, these pollen producers, are in the “who is who” list of popular trees and garden plants. Neumann said this includes the London plane tree, mulberry, birch, cypress, and oak.
“Add grass pollen and spores of fungi to the mix and you have a potent cocktail for allergic discomfort. Ragweed, a North American weed also known as Ambrosia, is adding its highly allergenic pollen to the mix, especially in areas like Potchefstroom, where my students and I are measuring pollen counts for research purposes, as well as contributing data to the Real Pollen Count website.
“The ragweed counts reach moderate levels in Potchefstroom and are much higher than in the rest of South Africa so far. Ragweed pollen is highly allergenic and there seem to be high occurrences of the pollen close to our sampling site,” said Neumann.
He said they have state-of-the-art equipment to trace pollen spores. Neumann, who is a Palynologist and also works in the field of aerobiology said their work is all about measuring allergy-causing pollen spores in the atmosphere.
“The identification and measurement of airborne pollen and fungal spores (aerospora) is a pioneering aerobiological project in the North West province. It was initiated on 15 November 2022,” he said.
This was supported by a local General Practitioner and Allergologist, Dr Jurgen Staats. He found indications of allergenicity there in the local population during skin prick tests.
Meanwhile, an Aaerobiologist, Dr Dorra Gharbi shared the same sentiments. She said they started measuring the aerospora (pollen and fungal spores) in the atmosphere as part of the project.
“A state-of-the-art seven-day volumetric spore trap has been installed on the roof of one of the NWU’s buildings to determine exactly which kinds of allergenic pollen are prevalent on certain days and in what quantities.
“The project, which is still in its infancy, is part of the nationwide South African Pollen Network (SAPNET). Its principal investigators are Prof Jonny Peter and Dr Dilys Berman from the Lung Institute Allergy and Immunology Clinic at the University of Cape Town,” said Gharbi.
The Guardian 