1. European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM www.cost.esf.org ACTION ES0603 EUPOL Assessment of Production, Release, Distribution and Health Impact of Allergenic Pollen in Europe Entry into force : 18/04/2007 End of Action : 13/09/2011 Participating countries: Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom Chair of the Action: Adj. Prof. Mikhail Sofiev COST Science Officer: Carine Petit www.eupollen.eu WORKING GROUPS WP1 will be dedicated to pollen production and release and their quantitative description. It will try to answer the questions when, where, and under which conditions pollen are produced and released in Europe. WORKING GROUP 1: Pollen production and release Chair: Dr. Arnold van Vliet WP2 will concentrate on pollen atmospheric dispersion at various scales, its transport and removal mechanisms, physical and chemical transformations and inter-actions with other atmospheric constituents WORKING GROUP 2: Pollen distribution in the atmosphere Chair: Prof. Heidrun Behrendt WP3 will deal with applications of existing systems, their correspondence to state-of- the-art knowledge (WP1 and WP2) and challenges of the impact assessment tasks, as well as to the needs and requirements of the user community, which will be identified and involved in the dialogue. Special attention will be paid to dissemination of pollen-related information to various users – in accordance with their needs and existing or planned functions of the pollen information services WORKING GROUP 3: Impact assessment, user links and applications Chair: Prof. Jean Emberlin Background Diseases due to aeroallergens are among major causes of a growing rate of morbidity and demand for healthcare. The overall prevalence of seasonal allergic rhinitis in Europe is about 15% and increasing. Adequate protective and pre-emptive measures require both the reliable assessment of production and release of various pollen species, and the forecasting of their atmospheric dispersion. The pollen- related research is currently conducted within several scientific disciplines, countries and targeted activities; however, their coordination could be substantially improved. Objectives The main objective is to set up a multi-disciplinary forum for critical review of existing information on allergenic pollen in Europe and its representation in assessment and forecasting systems Specific objectives - identification of the critical gaps in the current knowledge: better co-ordination of on-going research; - development of a comprehensive strategy and specific action plan for improving the scientific knowledge and converting the findings into integrated assessment systems; - strengthening the dialogue with end users. CONTACT US: Chair: Adj. Prof. Mikhail Sofiev mikhail.sofiev@fmi.fi Vice: Prof. Karl-Christian Bergmann kcbergmann@hotmail.com WG1 Chair: Dr. Arnold van Vliet arnold.vanvliet@wur.nl WG2 Chair: Prof. Heidrun Behrendt heidrun.behrendt@lrz.tum.de WG3 Chair: Prof. Jean Emberlin j.emberlin@worc.ac.uk Webmaster : Dr. Tommaso Torrigiani M tommaso.torrigiani@unifi.it May 9, 2006 pollen-rich aerosol plume from wild-land fires and anthropogenic sources. EuMetsat-8 HRV channel. (source: www.eumetsat.int) Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. pollen (source: Prof. Heidrun Behrendt, zaum, Munich) forecasted pollen plume for the same time (source: Sofiev et al, 2008)