Abstract
Background: Climate change has implications for health, ecology and society. Urban green areas are a key element in the planning of citie, promoting citizen interaction with the environment, as well as health. Lack of planning and design of these areas as well as the selection of ornamental trees can be a trigger of pollen allergy in the surrounding population. Reforestation is among the programs implemented by the government that have an impact on allergy. Environmental reforestation programs do not take into account the allergenic potential of some spe- cies. In the last 4 years, the government of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, has planted nearly 18,000 Quercus species trees, in addition to an unknown number of Fraxinus species trees that are listed as tree species with high pollen production.
Objective: To identify changes in tree pollen sensitization, based on environmental reforestation programs.
Material and method: A retrospective and descriptive study was done in which positive skin prick tests to pollen from trees in the interval of 2010-2014 were analyzed, correlating between tree species used for reforestation and increased sensitivity to the former.
Results: A statistically signi cant increase in pollen sensitization to species with which Nuevo Leon was reforested was found, along with a decrease in sensitization to the species that were not reforested.
Conclusion: Reforestation contributes to some extent to the change in the pattern of positive skin tests and may result in more frequent exac- erbations of respiratory diseases. It is an activity that should always be regulated and assisted by experts in the according eld.
References
D’Amato G, Cecchi L, D’Amato M, Liccardi G. Urban air pollution and climate change as environmental risk factors of respiratory allergy: an update. JACI 2010;20:95-102.
Wardekker A, De Jong A, van Bree L, et al. Health risks of climate change: An assessment of uncertainties and its implications for adaptation policies. Environmental Health 2012;11:67.
D’Amato G, D’Amato M, Liccardi G. Environmental risk factors (outdoor air pollution and climatic changes) and increased trend of respiratory allergy. JACI 2000;10:33-39.
D’Amato G, D’Amato M, Liccardi G. Outdoor air pollution, climatic changes and allergic bronchial asthma. Eur Respir J 2002;20:763-776.
Bartra J, Mullol J, del Cuvillo A, et al. Air pollution and allergens. JACI 2007;17:3-8.
Escobedo FJ, Kroeger T, Wagner JE. Urban forests and pollution mitigation: analysing ecosystem services and disservices. Environ Pollut 2011;159:2078-2087.
Fosberg B, Brabck L, Keune H, et al. An expert assessment on climate change and health- with a European focus on lungs and allergies. Environmental Health 2012;11:S4.
Stach A, Garcia-Mozo H, Prieto-Baena JC, et al. Prevalence of Artemisia species pollinosis in Western Poland: Impact of climate change on aerobiological trends 1995-2004. JACI 2007;17:39-47.
Kim SH, Park HS, Jang JY. Impact of meteorological variation on hospital visits of patients with tree pollen allergy. BMC public health 2011;11:890.
Beggs PJ. Adaptation to impacts of climate change on aeroallergens and allergic respiratory disease. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2010;7:3006-3021.
Cheng JJ, Berry P. Health co-benefits and risks of public health adaptation strategies to climate change: a review of current literature. Int J Public Health 2013;58:305-311.
Carinanos P, Casares-Porcel M. Urban green zones and related pollen allergy: a review. Some guidelines for designing spaces with low allergy impact. Landsc Urban Plan 2011;101:205-214.
Reid CE, Gamble JL. Aeroallergens, allergic disease, and climate change: Impacts and adaptation. EcoHealth 2009;6:458-470.
Darrow LA, Hess J, Rogers CA, et al. Ambient pollen concentrations and emergency department visits for asthma and wheeze. JACI 2012;130:630-638.
Barnes CS, Alexis NE, Bernstein JA, et al. Climate change and our environment: the effect on respiratory and allergic disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2013;1:137-141.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2014 Revista Alergia México