Allergenicity of the urban green areas in the city of Córdoba (Spain)

Abstract

Gardens provide from the antiquity a place of easing and leisure for the human being. The development of gardens in cities carries the creation of a green space that serves as support to the oXygenation of the air in these and participate in the mitigation of pollution. However, sometimes these parks and gardens can generate health problems in residents due to the presence of species that release high concentrations of allergenic pollen grains into the atmosphere. This work presents a study of potential allergenicity of urban green areas in the city of Córdoba (Spain) to observe if these spaces could be considered as a problem for public health due to its poor air quality. The results obtained suggest that some study spaces present a moderate-hight allergenic potential and could represent a risk to the citizens. The main causes of this rate in these areas have been the abundance of individuals of allergenic species, concentrated in a small area.