Pollen seasons: forecasts of the most important allergenic plants in Finland

Occurrence of airborne pollen in Finland has been studied for 10 years in Turku (southern Finland), 8 years in Oulu, 4 years in Kuopio (central Finland) and 7 years at Kevo (northern Lapland). Observations on the pollen seasons of alder, birch, grasses and mugwort are presented. All these pollens occur in south and mid- Finland in quantities capable of causing allergy symptoms. Except for birch pollen, allergenic pollens occur in far lower concentrations than in central Europe. In northern Lapland only birch and pine pollen concentrations are high. Pollens may occur without signs of local flowering when there are southerly winds. This finding suggests that long-distance transport is an essential contributing factor to the occurrence of pollens. There are wide year-to-year variations in the start of pollen seasons and the quantities of pollens. The variations in the start of birch and grass pollen seasons could very much depend on the mean temperature in April. However, a forecasting model based on this and other spring-time temperature parameters often fails to give sufficiently accurate forecasts.