Note: This article was first published on June 7, 2017 and was republished due to the current occasion of an ambrosia warning.
After birch, hazel and grasses, many allergy sufferers in this country have long since adjusted to the fact that they are tormented by pollen from new, immigrated species year after year. With the hated anyway Ambrosia But there is an extremely unpleasant effect: It becomes really aggressive on the side of the road.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from exhaust gases causes stress on the plant. This changes the protein composition of the Pollen. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center in Munich found this out. The amount of so-called allergenic proteins is increasing, explains the head of the Institute for Biochemical Plant Pathology, Jörg Durner. Depending on the allergen, by a factor of two to ten.
For those affected, the bottom line is that the body releases more histamine and that causes allergic reactions – hay fever and asthma. Skin inflammation is also possible. And: “An ambrosia plant can shed between 3000 and 60,000 seeds in its one-year life cycle,” says Bavaria Health Minister Melanie Huml (CSU) clearly. “It can also release up to a billion pollen into the air.”
Mugwort ambrosia: Climate change causes stocks to grow
NO2 has an inherently damaging effect on the mucous membrane. “Now more aggressive pollen meets more irritated mucous membranes,” says Durner. How strong the effects are, whether they add up or potentiate – i.e. increase significantly more – is now to be tested on a model. Here the scientists are still at the beginning: “The easiest thing would be a person with ambrosia in a chamber that is treated with NO2. But of course that is not possible,” says Durner. Now the question is whether an animal model has to be used or whether an artificial mucous membrane is being developed for test purposes.
The American mugwort ambrosia, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, also called ragweed or ragwort, was probably introduced to Europe years ago via bird feed. In Germany, according to Matthias Werchan of the German Pollen Information Service Foundation mainly represented in the warmer south. The Ministry of Health in Bavaria alone recently counted 393 larger stocks in the Free State. But there are also holdings in Brandenburg “beyond good and evil”, said Werchan. Ambrosia is also spreading due to climate change.
Their pollen is one of the most violent allergy triggers – stronger than grass and birch, for example. The weeds, which are up to 1.80 meters high, only flower from around mid-July, the pollen count extends from August to October. For allergy sufferers, this may mean extending the time of suffering by around two months.
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Tear out ragweed – preferably with a face mask
The bitter part: According to Werchan, there is another problem, especially on the side of the road where the pollen becomes more aggressive. “The green strips are regularly mown on the highways. Then the plants are pulled along and the seeds are distributed in the soil.” They could still germinate there years later. The Ministry of Health in Munich therefore recommends tearing out the plant – only with gloves and even with mouthguard for flowering plants – and disposing of it with the household waste in a plastic bag. Authorities should be involved with stocks of around 100 plants or more.
Since 2007, the Julius Kühn Institute nationwide and also the Free State have been taking action programs against ambrosia. “So far, an uncontrollable spread like in other countries has been prevented,” said the minister Huml. Werchan and Durner are of the opinion, however, that too little is done in Germany – also politically. According to the information, there are just under 40 measuring stations in the whole Republic to record the pollen count.
Werchan also refers to Switzerland, which has legally anchored that ambrosia must be combated. “The plant is almost extinct again,” he says. In Germany there are only local actions. “The fight is much cheaper than waiting.” Bavaria’s head of department Huml says: “In Bavaria, we are observing whether a statutory reporting and control obligation for ambrosia plants could also be necessary for us.”
Professor Durner from the Helmholtz Center at Ambrosia can, however, find something good: “This is a great model for research because a single plant develops so many pollen.”
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