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Bioaerosols, Climate Change and Human Health Impacts
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Bioaerosols, Climate Change and Human Health Impacts

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Air".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 9302

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Damialis

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Ecology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: aerobiology; air pollution; air quality; allergy; biometeorology; climate change; COVID-19; environmental microbiome; exposome; fungal ecology; fungi; phenology; plant ecology; pollen; viruses

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Bioaerosols are airborne particles of biological origin, namely pollen, fungi, bacteria, viruses, plant fragments, etc. While their original functionality is to ensure the reproduction of plants, fungi, and other organisms, they have been also reported as provoking infectious diseases (bacteria, viruses), respiratory allergies (pollen, fungi), as well as worsening the atmospheric quality with multiple exposure and additive health impacts on the overall population. For example, one of the direst effects of bioaerosols on human health has been allergic symptoms; as a matter of fact, allergies have been characterized as one of the epidemics of the century. Noticeably, bioaerosols have been recently documented as a significant environmental co-factor for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with higher pollen concentrations being positively correlated with increased SARS-CoV-2 infection numbers. Higher airborne pollen abundances, earlier shifts of pollen and spore seasons, and emerging allergens and changed biodiversity contribute to unprecedented and unpredictable allergic responses in sensitive individuals, as well as alterations in sensitization patterns in the westernized world. 

With a One Health approach, we aim to investigate how the atmospheric environment has an effect, positively or negatively, combined with multiple environmental exposures, on human health and wellbeing. This topic focuses on bioaerosols of any type, origin, taxon, and environmental regime and can be connected to exposure risk and relevant health impacts, either short-term or long-term. 

Contributors are welcomed to submit reviews and original research articles, including but not limited to the following topics:

  • Bioaerosol studies under different meteorological/ecosystem conditions (urban vs. rural/natural environments);
  • Indoor vs. outdoor exposure and environmental risks;
  • Evaluation of health outcomes and risks of co-exposures (e.g., pollen and viruses, pollen and fungi, pollen and bacteria);
  • Direct and indirect effects of climate change or global warming on non-communicable and infectious diseases (including emerging diseases, new diseases, more severe diseases or co-diseased occasions). 

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Damialis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • aerobiology
  • allergy
  • climate change
  • exposome
  • fungi
  • pollen
  • viruses

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1928 KiB  
Article
Is Pollen Production of Birch Controlled by Genetics and Local Conditions?
by Surendra Ranpal, Miriam Sieverts, Verena Wörl, Georgia Kahlenberg, Stefanie Gilles, Maria Landgraf, Kira Köpke, Franziska Kolek, Daria Luschkova, Tobias Heckmann, Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, Carmen Büttner, Athanasios Damialis and Susanne Jochner-Oette
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(13), 8160; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19138160 - 3 Jul 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3346
Abstract
Intraspecific genetic variation might limit the relevance of environmental factors on plant traits. For example, the interaction between genetics and (a-)biotic factors regulating pollen production are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated pollen production of 28 birch (Betula pendula Roth) [...] Read more.
Intraspecific genetic variation might limit the relevance of environmental factors on plant traits. For example, the interaction between genetics and (a-)biotic factors regulating pollen production are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated pollen production of 28 birch (Betula pendula Roth) individuals in the years 2019–2021. We sampled catkins of eleven groups of genetically identical trees, which were partially topped, but of the same age and located in a seed plantation in southern Germany characterized by similar microclimatic conditions. Furthermore, we monitored environmental factors such as air temperature, characterized air quality (NO2, NOx and O3), and assessed potential solar radiation. We especially checked for differences between years as well as between and within clones and assessed the synchronicity of years with high/low pollen production. We present a robust mean for the pollen production of Betula pendula (1.66 million pollen grains per catkin). Our findings show temporal (H(2) = 46.29, p < 0.001) and clonal variations (H(4) = 21.44, p < 0.001) in pollen production. We conclude that synchronized high or low pollen production is not utterly site-specific and, in addition, not strictly dependent on genotypes. We suggest that appropriate clone selection based on application (seed plantation, urban planting) might be advantageous and encourage a long-term monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaerosols, Climate Change and Human Health Impacts)
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25 pages, 5856 KiB  
Article
Pollen Monitoring by Optical Microscopy and DNA Metabarcoding: Comparative Study and New Insights
by Mattia Fragola, Augusto Arsieni, Nicola Carelli, Sabrina Dattoli, Sante Maiellaro, Maria Rita Perrone and Salvatore Romano
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 2624; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052624 - 24 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2195
Abstract
Environmental samples collected in Brindisi (Italy) by a Hirst-type trap and in Lecce (Italy) by a PM10 sampler were analysed by optical microscopy and DNA-metabarcoding, respectively, to identify airborne pollen and perform an exploratory study, highlighting the benefits and limits of both sampling/detection [...] Read more.
Environmental samples collected in Brindisi (Italy) by a Hirst-type trap and in Lecce (Italy) by a PM10 sampler were analysed by optical microscopy and DNA-metabarcoding, respectively, to identify airborne pollen and perform an exploratory study, highlighting the benefits and limits of both sampling/detection systems. The Hirst-type trap/optical-microscopy system allowed detecting pollen on average over the full bloom season, since whole pollen grains, whose diameter vary within 10–100 μm, are required for morphological detection with optical microscopy. Conversely, pollen fragments with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm were collected in Lecce by the PM10 sampler. Pollen grains and fragments are spread worldwide by wind/atmospheric turbulences and can age in the atmosphere, but aerial dispersal, aging, and long-range transport of pollen fragments are favoured over those of whole pollen grains because of their smaller size. Twenty-four Streptophyta families were detected in Lecce throughout the sampling year, but only nine out of them were in common with the 21 pollen families identified in Brindisi. Meteorological parameters and advection patterns were rather similar at both study sites, being only 37 km apart in a beeline, but their impact on the sample taxonomic structure was different, likely for the different pollen sampling/detection systems used in the two monitoring areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaerosols, Climate Change and Human Health Impacts)
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11 pages, 3123 KiB  
Article
Indoor Pollen Concentrations of Mountain Cedar (Juniperus ashei) during Rainy Episodes in Austin, Texas
by Susanne Jochner-Oette, Johanna Jetschni, Petra Liedl and Annette Menzel
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1541; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031541 - 29 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2778
Abstract
Standard pollen monitoring programs evaluate outdoor pollen concentrations; however, information on indoor pollen is crucial for human wellbeing as people spend most of the day in indoor environments. In this study, we investigated the differences in indoor mountain cedar pollen loads between rooms [...] Read more.
Standard pollen monitoring programs evaluate outdoor pollen concentrations; however, information on indoor pollen is crucial for human wellbeing as people spend most of the day in indoor environments. In this study, we investigated the differences in indoor mountain cedar pollen loads between rooms of different uses and with different ventilation at The University of Texas in Austin and focused on the effect of rainy episodes on indoor/outdoor ratios of pollen concentrations. Pollen were sampled outdoors and indoors, specifically in seven rooms and in two thermal labs with controlled ventilation, during the daytime on 6 days in 2015. We calculated daily pollen concentrations, campaign pollen integrals (CPIn, the sum of all daily pollen concentrations) and ratios between indoor and outdoor concentrations (I/O ratio). Pollen concentrations differed substantially based on features related to room use and ventilation: Whereas the highest CPIn was observed in a room characterized by a frequently opened window and door, the smallest CPIn was related to a storeroom without any windows and no forced ventilation. Our results showed that rainy episodes were linked to a higher mean I/O ratio (0.98; non-rainy episodes: 0.05). This suggests that pollen accumulated indoors and reached higher levels than outdoors. Low ratios seem to signal a low level of risk for allergic people when staying inside. However, under very high outdoor pollen concentrations, small ratios can still be associated with high indoor pollen levels. In turn, high I/O ratios are not necessarily related to a (very) high indoor exposure. Therefore, I/O ratios should be considered along with pollen concentration values for a proper risk assessment. Exposure may be higher in indoor environments during prevailing precipitation events and at the end of the pollen season of a specific species. Standardized indoor environments (e.g., thermal labs) should be included in pollen monitoring programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaerosols, Climate Change and Human Health Impacts)
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