German and Polish pollen blowing our way and exceptionally favorable growing conditions for grasses are causing a hay fever explosion in the Netherlands. An improvement in the situation is not yet in sight.
As a scientist, biologist and hay fever expert Maurice Martens from Maastricht is not the man to use terms such as extreme, exceptional or excessive. “But this is a fairly unique situation,” he admits about the pollen load and the number of hay fever complaints in the Netherlands at the moment. Because it is high, or rather: extremely high.
Anyone who consults the pollen forecast on Martens’ website pollennieuws.nl will immediately lose heart. The map of the Netherlands is colored purple, which means as much as: extremely high levels of pollen in the air. And the charts and bar charts for the next few days look no better. In short: suffering for those who suffer from an allergy.
east wind
Flowering grasses that are currently throwing their pollen into the air en masse are the main cause of this nuisance, according to Martens. “We had a cool spring with a lot of rain. And then it got dry and warm. Grasses have therefore been able to make an enormous spurt.”
Excellent growing conditions for the crops, glossy oats and perennial ryegrass, which are currently standing with thick spikes everywhere on the roadsides and meadows, ready to discharge their pollen. Not only with us, but also abroad. Because those grasses are also in bloom in Germany, Poland or even further away. “And because of the east wind that we are now dealing with, they are also being blown our way.” In contrast to the westerly wind, which usually brings in cleaner sea air. “As a result, you often see that the pollen load is lower on the coast.”
‘We had a cool spring with a lot of rain. And then it got dry and warm. Grasses have therefore been able to pull off an enormous spurt’
Accumulation
According to Martens, these conditions are currently causing an accumulation of pollen in the air above the Netherlands. Partly due to the weeks of drought. “As a result, pollen is blown into the air again and again.” As a result, very high concentrations are measured and a large number of people report complaints on haykoortsradar.nl or go to their GP. According to Martens, relief is not expected for the time being.
“We may get a single shower this week.” But according to the biologist, that is not nearly enough to curb the hay fever complaints. “To really purify the air properly, it has to rain for a considerable period of time.” So that the majority of the pollen actually settles permanently on the ground or is discharged through the sewer. “But as long as the high pressure area we are experiencing now remains where it is, that is not going to happen,” he predicts.
Bright spot
Beautiful weather for people who like heat and sun, but certainly not a pleasant period for people with a pollen allergy. There are quite a few in the Netherlands. It is estimated that 4 to 5 million people in our country suffer from hay fever. This concerns hypersensitivity to one or more types of pollen from, for example, hazel, fruit trees or birch. According to Martens, about 2 million of that large group of hay fever patients have a hypersensitivity to the pollen grains of grasses, which are now blown around so generously.
“The grass season normally runs until about mid-July.” So the end is far from in sight. According to Martens, the bright spot is that the upper soil layers have dried out considerably due to the drought and the heat. “As a result, the growth of grasses is now somewhat tempered.” Small consolation for those who have been sniffling and spluttering for weeks.