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Researchers from Edith Cowan College (ECU) have developed a device to visualise allergenic timber in 4 of Australia’s main cities, which might assist alleviate the signs of individuals dwelling with pollen allergy symptoms or hay fever.
“Green spaces in urban areas are tremendously important for people’s mental health as well as their physical well-being. But for some people, it can be a bit of a detrimental experience going into these spaces, especially if they are exposed to high levels of pollen,” Dr. Mary Hanson stated.
Round one in each 4 Australians have hay fever, together with many of the 2.8 million Australians dwelling with bronchial asthma.
Dr. Hanson famous that allergic respiratory illness is extra widespread in city populations, partly as a result of key aeroallergens are extra plentiful in these environments. In sensitized people, publicity to pollen can produce a spectrum of respiratory signs which, in uncommon instances, may end up in extreme bronchial asthma, as noticed throughout “thunderstorm asthma.”
Most instances vary from gentle to average hay fever or bronchial asthma, that are related to substantial direct and oblique prices by way of well being care, office absenteeism and medicine.
Whereas grass pollen is the most important allergen, tree pollen can be an element being thought of by consultants.
“Our research makes use of an existing program which is free to download, layered with a new visualization of potential tree allergenicity. We incorporated tree maps that are currently available from the city councils in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide to identify hotspot areas with higher levels of allergen pollen,” Dr. Hanson stated.
“If people are able to avoid those hotspots by making minor adjustments to their lifestyle, like taking a different route home, it could improve their quality of life.”
Researchers at ECU are presently creating an internet venture portal that can quickly be out there for individuals to visualise potential tree allergenicity within the Perth metropolis space. Moreover, the Perth Pollen web site and app present a terrific useful resource for pollen and airborne allergen data, together with the grass pollen forecast for Perth.
Future analysis is deliberate to map pollen threat in Perth extra broadly utilizing machine studying and synthetic intelligence, constructing on the restricted work that has been executed on this house so far and enhancing the accessibility of pollen information for the WA group.
Extra data:
D. Krwanji et al, Interactive mapping of allergenic city road timber in Australia, City Forestry & City Greening (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128718
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Edith Cowan College
Entry the Perth Pollen web site and app.
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Researchers develop tree map to curb allergy symptoms in 4 of Australia’s main cities (2025, Might 14)
retrieved 14 Might 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-05-tree-curb-allergies-australia-major.html
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