April 25, 2016
allergies, allergy, allergy symptoms, eye allergies, grass pollen, local pollen count, oak tree pollen, pollen, pollen count, spring, The Asthma Center

“Looks like a bad week for allergies.  Today tree pollen is extreme, and I expect to see peak tree pollen in the next five days,” says Dr. Dvorin as he finished today’s count.  The picture above was taken right from his microscope and features, Oak, Pine and Walnut tree pollen.

The Asthma Center’s phones are busy with reports of misery: nasal congestion and blockage, sneezing, itchy eyes, and coughing!

“Even though we have rain in the forecast for tonight,” Dr. Dvorin goes on, ”that’s only temporary and within 24-48 hours things are dried out and tree and grass pollen will be present in the air again. Rain and thunderstorms will lead to more outdoor mold spores as well.”

More than three quarters of today’s air sample is comprised of Oak tree pollen.  Oak is the predominant hardwood tree species in the Delaware Valley, and a single medium to large Oak tree can produce several million pollen grains.  When you consider how tiny each pollen grain is (24-38 micrometers), that’s a lot of tree pollen.

Keeping that in mind, it is no surprise in our area that Oak tree pollen often dominates the tree counts for stretches of time.

Birch Tree pollen grains are actually increased in today’s air sample for our area and comprise approximately 10% of tree pollen grains in the air.  Next largest in volume is Walnut tree pollen which amounts to between 6-9% of the tree pollen grains in the air. 

Two Stations are Better than One

At this point, our air samples take a turn which provides crucial information for allergy sufferers who know exactly which species trigger their symptoms (Allergy Skin Testing).  In Philadelphia, where there are more Mulberry trees (See Street Tree Mulberry Struts its Stuff), Mulberry is the fourth largest contributor of pollen grains to the air.  Across the Delaware in New Jersey, home of our national treasure the Pinelands, Pine trees are still pollinating and are the fourth largest contributor of pollen grains for this area.  Generally speaking, there is minimal variation between The Asthma Center’s urban (Philadelphia) and suburban (Cherry Hill, NJ) air sampling stations.  However, on days like today’s “Manic Monday” with extreme levels of tree pollen, it is critical for allergy sufferers to know what’s in the air in their local area.  It is also important to remember that weather and wind currents play a role in distributing pollen.  Tree pollen is light and can travel for miles, meaning Philadelphia air may contain pollen from the Jersey Pinelands and vice versa. That is why The Asthma Center uses two stations to get a better understanding of this expansive area.

Six other kinds of trees make up the remainder of tree pollen. They are in varying stages of their cycles – some at the end of their pollinating seasons while others are just getting started.  Outdoor Mold spores were increased (likely due to the rain in our area this past weekend) and remain in the high range.  Grass pollen is slightly increased today, and continues to be present at moderate levels. If you are extremely sensitive to this allergen, you may already be feeling symptoms of grass pollen allergy. 

Did You Know?

Manic Monday was released by The Bangles in 1986 on their album Different Light and peaked at No.2 on Billboard’s Hot 100. But did you know that the song was written by the recently deceased pop mega-star Prince? Under the pseudonym “Christopher”, Prince penned the song originally for the group Apollonia 6. Two years later, he offered it to The Bangles and the rest, as they say, is history.

Want to Know More About What’s in the Air?

The Asthma Center is the Delaware Valley’s only Official Pollen and Mold Spore count station which is certified by the National Allergy Bureau.  Subscribe to receive our daily counts by email or check out some of our other blog posts to learn more about what is in the air, how it can affect you, and what you can do about it.

Get Relief-Saturday appointments are available!

The best way to manage your allergies is to find out exactly what’s causing your symptoms.The Asthma Center has 9 locations in PA & NJ with the following Saturday hours in addition to our normal Monday – Friday business hours.

• May 7 and May 14: the Mount Laurel, NJlocation will be seeing patients.
• May 14 and June 4: the Langhorne, PAoffice will be seeing patients.