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Evaluation of hirst-type sampler and PM10 impactor for investigating adhesion of atmospheric particles onto allergenic pollen grains

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Abstract

Hirst-type sampler (HTS) is the standard equipment for pollen sampling while cascade impactors are commonly used for particulate matter (PM) samplings. In this work, we investigated the feasibility of using such devices to reliably assess the atmospheric PM adhesion onto pollen grains (PGs). Birch PGs were deposited on sampling substrates and then exposed to ambient PM in each type of sampling device operating simultaneously. In the HTS, the surface of PGs was significantly polluted with PM during sampling (93.5% of polluted PGs with on average 4 particles per PG with a mean diameter of 2.2 µm). A modified entrance slit was tested and proved to significantly reduce the PM sampling artifact (28% of polluted PGs), although not completely canceling it. In contrast, in the PM10 impactor, all PGs remained free from particulate pollutants. We concluded that the PM pollution of PGs reported in previous studies using a HTS may be overestimated. While PG samplings using a HTS might provide insights into the co-exposure to allergenic pollen and other ambient PM, a size-selective aerosol sampler proves to be more appropriate for a reliable assessment of the extent of PM pollution of airborne pollen in order to give a realistic depiction of the physical and chemical state of ambient PGs that could be inhaled.

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Acknowledgements

MC and NV thank the University of Lille and the Institut de Recherches Pluridisciplinaires en Sciences de l’Environnement (IREPSE Fed 4129) for financial support. The CaPPA project (Chemical and Physical Properties of the Atmosphere) is funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) through the PIA (Programme d'Investissement d'Avenir) under contract ANR-11-LABX-005-01. This work is a contribution to the CPER research project CLIMIBIO. The authors thank the French Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, the Hauts-de-France Region and the European Funds for Regional Economic Development for their financial support to this project.

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  1. Marie Choël and Anastasia Ivanovsky have contributed equally to the work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, UMR 8516-LASIRE-Laboratoire de Spectroscopie pour les Interactions, la Réactivité et l’Environnement, Univ. Lille, 59000, Lille, France

    Marie Choël, Anastasia Ivanovsky, Antoine Roose & Mona Hamzé

  2. CNRS, UMR 8522-PC2A-Physicochimie des Processus de Combustion et de l’Atmosphère, Univ. Lille, 59000, Lille, France

    Mona Hamzé & Nicolas Visez

  3. CNRS, UMR 8207-UMET-Unité Matériaux et Transformations, Univ. Lille, 59000, Lille, France

    Anne-Marie Blanchenet

  4. EA 4493-LPCA-Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l’Atmosphère, Univ. Littoral Côte d’Opale, 59140, Dunkerque, France

    Karine Deboudt

  5. Association pour la Prévention de la Pollution Atmosphérique, Parc Eurasanté, 235 avenue de la Recherche, 59120, Loos, France

    Nicolas Visez

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  1. Marie Choël
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Choël, M., Ivanovsky, A., Roose, A. et al. Evaluation of hirst-type sampler and PM10 impactor for investigating adhesion of atmospheric particles onto allergenic pollen grains. Aerobiologia 36, 657–668 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-020-09662-8

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