Carbon Adds to Allergy Misery

[Guest guest]

Carbon Adds to Allergy Misery

May 19, 2010

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/News-carbon-adds-to-allergy-misery-051910.asp\

x?xmlmenuid=51

A new study of the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and plant growth

suggests for the first time that not only do plants grow bigger and produce more

pollen when exposed to higher levels of the greenhouse gas, CO2, but the common,

allergen-producing fungus Alternaria alternate produces three times more spores

when feeding on those enriched plants. The spores disperse on the wind, making

allergies and asthma symptoms worse.

Although such well-fed spores may contain less protein per spore, if models of

climate disruption and global temperature rise are correct, the overall increase

in airway-irritating antigen to which people will be exposed in 2040 will be

roughly two times higher than now, according to , an

aerobiologist at the Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and

Health Sciences.

As she explains, " The fungi have an enriched food source and produced three

times as many spores, but less protein per spore. Overall, the amount of antigen

people are going to be exposed to is roughly twice as high. This is the first

time we know of that a study has looked at the level of antigen in fungal spores

in response to carbon dioxide. "

The research group, including another UMass Amherst researcher,

Muilenberg, plus colleagues at the Univ. of land and the USDA Agricultural

Research Service, Beltsville, Md., reported these results in the online current

edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

It has been known for some time that increasing levels of CO2 can increase the

ability of some plants to grow larger and produce more pollen, making life

miserable for people who are allergic to the tiny irritants. The increase in

available carbon lets plants produce more carbohydrates and proteins, which

serve as additional nutrients for fungi that feed on the plants. Spores from

Alternaria, a fungus that lives on plants and in soil, similarly triggers asthma

and allergic symptoms. Nearly 12 percent of asthma sufferers are sensitive to

this fungus, and in some places the percentage is higher.

For the study, and colleagues studied how four different CO2 levels in

the air, 300, 400, 500 and 600 parts per million (ppm), controlled in

environment chambers, affected biomass production and leaf carbon content of

timothy grass, a common hay crop.

The four CO2 levels are intended to simulate four global averages over time:

19th century (300 ppm), current levels (400 ppm), and two higher levels we're

predicted to reach by approximately 2025 (500 ppm) and 2040 (600 ppm), by the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. However, some urban areas already

average 500 ppm of this greenhouse gas in the air because of high traffic and

other emissions, points out.

The researchers then inoculated the grass with Alternaria spores and measured

the fungal spore production. They found that plants grown at higher CO2 levels

predicted to be reached around 2025 and 2040, showed increased carbon:nitrogen

(C:N) ratios. Plants grown at the highest level also produced more biomass.

Finally, Alternaria grown on these carbon-rich leaves produced nearly three

times more spores.

In further analyses conducted in ' laboratory at UMass Amherst, she and

Muilenberg determined the concentration of antigenic protein, the key component

in allergic reactions, in the spores of the fungus growing on the carbon-rich

plants.

The researchers suggest that more work is needed to understand how changes in

the more highly exposed grass led to increased spore production in the fungus,

" but the current study suggests that for allergy and asthma sufferers, exposure

to fungal spores may be an increasing problem as atmospheric CO2 levels rise, "

they conclude.

Source: Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst

[Guest guest]

boo, how much worse can it get. sounds to me like mold is thriving off of

pollution. thats it, I cant take it anymore, where is the rockest place to live?

no weeds, no trees, nothing but rock, I'm moveing there. I'm thinking theres a

area of southern Idaho, out of the pines and before you get to the sand. anyone

know?

my life cant be much more bahhumbug than it allready is,

cant enjoy the outdoors around here anymore,anyway.

>

> Carbon Adds to Allergy Misery

> May 19, 2010

>

>

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/News-carbon-adds-to-allergy-misery-051910.asp\

x?xmlmenuid=51

>

> A new study of the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and plant growth

suggests for the first time that not only do plants grow bigger and produce more

pollen when exposed to higher levels of the greenhouse gas, CO2, but the common,

allergen-producing fungus Alternaria alternate produces three times more spores

when feeding on those enriched plants. The spores disperse on the wind, making

allergies and asthma symptoms worse.

>

> Although such well-fed spores may contain less protein per spore, if models of

climate disruption and global temperature rise are correct, the overall increase

in airway-irritating antigen to which people will be exposed in 2040 will be

roughly two times higher than now, according to , an

aerobiologist at the Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and

Health Sciences.

>

> As she explains, " The fungi have an enriched food source and produced three

times as many spores, but less protein per spore. Overall, the amount of antigen

people are going to be exposed to is roughly twice as high. This is the first

time we know of that a study has looked at the level of antigen in fungal spores

in response to carbon dioxide. "

>

> The research group, including another UMass Amherst researcher,

Muilenberg, plus colleagues at the Univ. of land and the USDA Agricultural

Research Service, Beltsville, Md., reported these results in the online current

edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

>

> It has been known for some time that increasing levels of CO2 can increase the

ability of some plants to grow larger and produce more pollen, making life

miserable for people who are allergic to the tiny irritants. The increase in

available carbon lets plants produce more carbohydrates and proteins, which

serve as additional nutrients for fungi that feed on the plants. Spores from

Alternaria, a fungus that lives on plants and in soil, similarly triggers asthma

and allergic symptoms. Nearly 12 percent of asthma sufferers are sensitive to

this fungus, and in some places the percentage is higher.

>

> For the study, and colleagues studied how four different CO2 levels in

the air, 300, 400, 500 and 600 parts per million (ppm), controlled in

environment chambers, affected biomass production and leaf carbon content of

timothy grass, a common hay crop.

>

> The four CO2 levels are intended to simulate four global averages over time:

19th century (300 ppm), current levels (400 ppm), and two higher levels we're

predicted to reach by approximately 2025 (500 ppm) and 2040 (600 ppm), by the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. However, some urban areas already

average 500 ppm of this greenhouse gas in the air because of high traffic and

other emissions, points out.

>

> The researchers then inoculated the grass with Alternaria spores and measured

the fungal spore production. They found that plants grown at higher CO2 levels

predicted to be reached around 2025 and 2040, showed increased carbon:nitrogen

(C:N) ratios. Plants grown at the highest level also produced more biomass.

Finally, Alternaria grown on these carbon-rich leaves produced nearly three

times more spores.

>

> In further analyses conducted in ' laboratory at UMass Amherst, she and

Muilenberg determined the concentration of antigenic protein, the key component

in allergic reactions, in the spores of the fungus growing on the carbon-rich

plants.

>

> The researchers suggest that more work is needed to understand how changes in

the more highly exposed grass led to increased spore production in the fungus,

" but the current study suggests that for allergy and asthma sufferers, exposure

to fungal spores may be an increasing problem as atmospheric CO2 levels rise, "

they conclude.

>

> Source: Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst

>