Combined Exposure to Birch Pollen and Thunderstorms Affects Respiratory Health in Stockholm, Sweden—A Time Series Analysis

Mare Lõhmus, Tomas Lind, Laura MacLachlan, Agneta Ekebom, Björn Gedda, Pia Östensson and Antonios Georgelis
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Mare Lõhmus: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, 171 77 Solna, Sweden
Tomas Lind: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, 171 77 Solna, Sweden
Laura MacLachlan: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, 171 77 Solna, Sweden
Agneta Ekebom: Department of Environmental Research and Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
Björn Gedda: Department of Environmental Research and Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
Pia Östensson: Department of Environmental Research and Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
Antonios Georgelis: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 13, 171 77 Solna, Sweden

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Thunderstorm asthma is a term used to describe surges in acute respiratory illnesses following a thunderstorm and is often attributed to an intense exposure to aeroallergens. Several episodes of thunderstorm asthma have been observed worldwide; however, no such cases have been described in Sweden. In Sweden, the most prominent exposure to air-borne pollen occurs during the blooming of the birch. We aimed to explore the associations between respiratory health and the combined exposure to thunderstorms and birch pollen. Methods: We investigated the association between the daily numbers of outpatient visits due to respiratory cases and the combined exposure to thunderstorms and birch pollen during the period of 1 May–31 September in 2001–2017, in Stockholm County, Sweden, by using time series analysis with log linear models. Results: We detected noticeable increases in the number of outpatient visits on both the same day (max 26%; 95% CI 1.16–1.37) and the day after (max 50%; 95% CI 1.32–1.70) the occurrence of a thunderstorm, when the concentrations of birch pollen and the number of lightning discharges were within the highest categories. Conclusions: It is possible that co-exposure to heavy thunderstorms and high concentrations of birch pollen affects the respiratory health of the Stockholm population. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study addressing the thunderstorm-related respiratory illnesses in Sweden and the effects of birch pollen. Our study may be important for future public health advice related to thunderstorm asthma.

Keywords: birch pollen; thunderstorms; respiratory health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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