Seasonal and spatial variations of indoor pollen in a hospital

Abstract

The airborne indoor pollen in a hospital of Badajoz (Spain) was monitored over two years using a personal Burkard sampler. The air was sampled in four places indoors-one closed room and one open ward on each of the ground and the third floors-and one place outdoors at the entrance to the hospital. The results were compared with data from a continuous volumetric sampler. While 32 pollen types were identified, nearly 75% of the total counts were represented by just five of them. These were: Quercus, Cupressaceae, Poaceae, Olea, and Plantago. The average indoor concentration was 25.2 grains/m3, and the average indoor/outdoor ratio was 0.27. A strong seasonal pattern was found, with the highest levels in spring and winter, and the indoor concentrations were correlated with the outdoor one. Indoor air movement led to great homogeneity in the airborne pollen presence: the indoor results were not influenced by whether or not the room was isolated, the floor level, or the number of people in or transiting the site during sampling. The presence of ornamental vegetation in the area surrounding the building affected the indoor counts directly as sources of the pollen. © 2009 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International.