The arrival of the dreaded "pollens" can dominate small talk in some parts of Australia every spring, as hayfever sufferers start pondering the annual question — is it worse this year?
A new service launched in Perth today will endeavour to provide the answer with real-time allergen monitoring and air quality forecasts.
The Perth Pollen Count and Forecast Service is the latest instalment in a wider effort to establish a national pollen monitoring network to help hayfever and asthma sufferers protect their health.
Ivan Hanigan from the Curtin School of Population Health at Curtin University said the service would be an early warning system for extreme airborne health risks.
It would give people likely to suffer from adverse reactions to the pollen the opportunity to modify their exposure to it.
"It's not just individuals with asthma we're worried about," Dr Hanigan told ABC Radio Perth host Tom Baddeley on Tuesday.
"We also want to warn the hospital departments and the ambulance services because these extreme weather events really put a strain on our hospital systems and death rates."
A partnership between Curtin University and the universities of Melbourne and Tasmania, the Perth project will use an automated monitor to collect air samples and take holographic images of pollen "in-flight".
Algorithms will then identify the different types of pollen that can trigger allergic rhinitis (hayfever) or asthma.
The technology allows for faster results and forecasting so people who are susceptible can make informed decisions.
"Previously, a person had to count each pollen and grain manually — it took a long time," Dr Hanigan said.
He said there were plans to distribute the information through apps in the future.
Dr Hanigan, who is also a senior lecturer in climate change and health, said the service was designed to have lasting health benefits for the community — particularly as climate change was expected to change pollen and allergy patterns.
"Climate change will change the flowering season of plants and also the allergenicity of the pollen pollution particles," he said.
"This is an important public health warning about the imminent impacts of climate change on health."
Forecasts and readings are available online at the Perth Pollen Count and Forecast website.
