|
Belfast
Monitors all
the main allergenic pollen types through the growing season.
Contact Information :
| Caroline
Simpson |
Tel: 0208
9026 3044 |
| Belfast
Link Laboratories |
Fax: 0208
9043 9181 |
| Kelvin Building |
caroline.simpson@bll.n-i.nhs.uk |
| Royal Victoria
Hospital |
|
| Grosvenor
Road |
|
| Belfast
BT12 6BN |
|
Cambridge
Specialist in mycology
but also monitors many types of air pollution at the same site. Special
interest in fungal spores and thunderstorms.
Contact Information
:
| Ursula Allitt |
Tel: 01223
353529 |
| 20 Acrefield
Drive |
Fax: 01223
333392 |
| Cambridge |
|
| CB4 1JP |
|
Cardiff
Contact information
:
|
Laura Watkeys |
Tel: (029) 2041 6840 |
|
Cardiff
School of Health Sciences |
Fax: (029) 2041 6982 |
UWIC
Western Avenue
CARDIFF
CF5 2YB
|
lwatkeys@uwic.ac.uk |
Pollen Monitoring
in South Wales
History
In 1935 Dr.
D.D. Williams began a special clinic for asthma patients at St.
David's Hospital in Cardiff . He was interested in the factors that
provoked asthma, in particular those particles in the air that,
if they were breathed in, could cause an attack . He contacted Mr
H.A.Hyde the assistant curator of Botany at the National Museum
of Wales in Cardiff, who was studying the pollens present in peat
beds, and persuaded him to help in a study of airborne pollens .
They set out to trap pollen and spores from the atmosphere by sedimentation
onto sticky glass slides and in 1942 carried out the first detailed
study of airborne pollens in Europe . They collected pollen from
trees and shrubs around the area to enable them to identify their
catch, and gradually built up calendars of the pollen and spore
seasons, enabling them to identify patients from the asthma clinic
whose symptoms coincided with one or more of the pollen or spore
seasons.
The Asthma and
Allergy Unit at St David's Hospital in Cardiff was opened in the
early 1950s and in 1954 a Hirst Spore Trap was purchased and set
up on the roof of the National Museum of Wales in the centre of
Cardiff. The site was moved to the University of Wales, Cardiff
in 1963 where it is still situated.
Following the
closure of the Asthma and Allergy Unit in 1997 the daily count of
spores and pollen was taken over by the
Common
Cold Centre which
is based at Cardiff University close to the Burkard trap which is
still situated on the roof of the main administrative building of
Cardiff University.
The
Common
Cold Centre is involved in clinical trials and basic research on
infective and allergic diseases of the upper airways. The centre
was established in 1988 and conducts clinical trials on new treatments
for hay fever, common cold and influenza.
In 2001 the
Common
Cold Centre was no longer able to continue the monitoring
and the data has since been collected at the School of Applied Sciences, UWIC.
Pollen and
spore counts have been taken in Cardiff since 1954 and it is thought
that this is the longest continuous pollen and spore data set for
any site world-wide.
Edinburgh
Contact Information
:
| Eric Caulton |
Tel: 01875
320 444 |
| Scottish
Centre for Pollen Studies |
Fax: 0131
455 2291 |
| School
of Life Sciences |
eric-caulton@vogrie.fsnet.co.uk |
| Napier
University |
|
| Merchiston
Campus |
|
| 10 Colinton
Road |
|
| Edinburgh
EH10 5DT |
|
Invergowrie
Contact Information
:
| Gavin
Ramsay |
Tel: 01382
562731 x2507 |
| Scottish
Crop Research Institute |
Fax: 01382
560 002 |
| Invergowrie |
|
| Dundee |
|
| Scotland |
|
| DD2 5DA |
|
Research projects
include pollen dispersal from Oil seed rape crop
Isle Of Wight
Contact Information
:
| Mrs S Matthews |
Tel: 01983
534 897 |
| Dr Hide Asthma and
Allergy Clinic |
Fax: 01983
822 928 |
| St Marys
Hospital |
|
| Parkhurst Road |
|
| Newport |
|
| Isle of
Wight. PO30 5TG |
|
London (Islington)
| |
|
| Pollution
Projects Team |
|
| Public
Protection and Development Management Division |
|
| 222 Upper
Street |
|
|
London |
|
|
N1 1XR |
|
|
|
|
Plymouth
Contact Information
:
|
Dr Katie Head |
Tel:
01752 233078 |
| Department
of Geographical Sciences |
Fax:
01752 233054 |
| University
of Plymouth |
email:
khead@plymouth.ac.uk |
| Plymouth
Pl4 8AA |
|
Aeropalynology
at Plymouth
Plymouth has
been contributing data to the EAN (UK) network since June 1994.
The Burkard spore trap is installed on the roof of a 3-storey building
in the University of Plymouth campus in the city centre. Data from
the Burkard and standard meteorological instruments installed at
the same site are helping to provide a clearer picture of the relationships
between pollen/spore levels and the local weather.
The monitoring
programme is undertaken by staff in the Department of Geographical
Sciences, University of Plymouth. Besides the EAN network contribution,
undergraduate and postgraduate research projects regularly involve
aeropalynology at Plymouth.
Preston
Contact Information
:
| Jackie
Gibbs |
Tel: 01772
523 889 |
| The Lancashire
Immunology Service
Pathology Laboratories |
Fax: 01772
522 021 |
| Royal Preston
Hospital |
jackie.gibbs@lthtr.nhs.uk |
| Sharoe
Green Lane |
|
| Preston
PR2 4HG |
|
Monitors all
the main allergenic pollen types through the growing season.
Worcester
Contact Information
:
|
Beverley
Adams-Grooms |
Tel:
01905 855200 |
| National
Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit |
pollen@worc.ac.uk |
| University of Worcester, |
|
| Henwick
Grove |
|
| Worcester
WR2 6AJ |
|
The NPARU collates
the National Pollen Network, runs the quality control annuals and
trains site operators. Details of the National Pollen and Aerobiology
Research Unit are on this website. The NPARU also has a full weather
station.
|
