Abstract
The importance of the transport of pollen by air movement into houses was evaluated using six to eight simultaneously collecting rotorod-type samplers, creating either a sampler line from outdoors to inside the room, or a sampler grid inside a room. The number of incoming pollen grains was highly dependent on the outdoor concentration. The highest concentrations inside (1–2 m distance) and outside (1 m) the room were 600 and 3,250 grains/m3, respectively, in the Betula pollen season and 1,980 and 5,080 grains/m3 in the Pinus season. The pollen concentration and the indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratio decreased as the distance from the ventilation opening increased. Inside the room at a distance of 1–2 m 28%, and at a distance of 3–5 m 12%, of the outside concentration was recorded. In the lower part of the opening the mean proportion was 63% and in the upper part of the opening it was 40%. Efficient ventilation with two open windows increased the I/O ratio and enabled the pollen to spread throughout the room. During the Pinus pollen season 3–35% of the outdoor concentration was simultaneously recorded at six locations inside the room with two open windows and only 0.1–3.6% with one open window. At the same point in the room the I/O ratio varied from <1 to 35%, depending on the sampling conditions. Only a minor effect on the I/O ratio was found between small and large ventilation windows and the door, although it was expected that more air and pollen grains would come indoors through a larger opening.
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Acknowledgments
The study was financially supported by the South Karelia Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. We thank Auli Rantio-Lehtimäki for her valuable comments on the manuscript.
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Jantunen, J., Saarinen, K. Intrusion of airborne pollen through open windows and doors. Aerobiologia 25, 193–201 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-009-9124-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-009-9124-8