ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-12-11107-2012 Crop harvest in Denmark and Central Europe contributes to the local load of airborne <i>Alternaria</i> spore concentrations in Copenhagen Skjøth C. A. 1 2 Sommer J. 3 Frederiksen L. 1 Gosewinkel Karlson U. 1 Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Sölvegatan 12, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden Asthma-Allergy Denmark, Universitetsparken 4, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark 22 11 2012 12 22 11107 11123 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/11107/2012/acp-12-11107-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/11107/2012/acp-12-11107-2012.pdf

This study examines the hypothesis that Danish agricultural areas are the main source of airborne <i>Alternaria</i> spores in Copenhagen, Denmark. We suggest that the contribution to the overall load is mainly local or regional, but with intermittent long distance transport (LDT) from more remote agricultural areas. This hypothesis is supported by investigating a 10 yr bi-hourly record of <i>Alternaria</i> spores in the air from Copenhagen. This record shows 232 clinically relevant episodes (daily average spore concentration above 100 m<sup>−3</sup>) with a distinct daily profile. The data analysis also revealed potential LDT episodes almost every year. A source map and analysis of atmospheric transport suggest that LDT always originates from the main agricultural areas in Central Europe. A dedicated emission study in cereal crops under harvest during 2010 also supports our hypothesis. The emission study showed that although the fields had been treated against fungal infections, harvesting still produced large amounts of airborne fungal spores. It is likely that such harvesting periods can cause clinically relevant levels of fungal spores in the atmosphere. Our findings suggest that crop harvest in Central Europe causes episodes of high airborne <i>Alternaria</i> spore concentrations in Copenhagen as well as other urban areas in this region. It is likely that such episodes could be simulated using atmospheric transport models.

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