The Environmental Protection Agency should soon have the first information on the concentration of pollen in the air.
The director of the Agency, Ervin Spahić, announced that the installation of stations for measuring allergenic pollen will begin soon.
He said that experts from Belgrade are training workers, which means that the Agency could have the first information with the beginning of flowering of allergenic plants.
Stations will be set up in Podgorica, Nikšić, Tivat, Bar and Mojkovac, and Spahić also announced the opening of a website that will publish information on pollen concentration.
"In accordance with financial resources, our plan is to expand the network for monitoring the concentration of pollen in the air and establish measurements in other cities as well. Bearing in mind that a large number of citizens have allergic complaints caused by pollen, we believe that prevention and diagnostics will be improved in this way," said Spahić.
He clarified that the locations where the pollen concentration will be monitored are determined based on geographical, meteorological and climatic conditions, as well as on the basis of phenotypic characteristics of biodiversity and by determining the installation parameters.
Spahić stated that the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that pollen from the air is an important cause of allergic reactions and that in 2003 it indicated the need for monitoring:
"The results of the monitoring enable the study, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ailments caused by pollen allergies."
The total cost of purchasing measuring equipment, microscopes and other laboratory equipment is about 28.000 euros, and the project is financed by UNDP.
The season lasts from February, when the trees are in bloom, to November
The concentration of pollen in the air is monitored with the beginning of the flowering of hazel and alder, that is, from the beginning of February until the end of October and the end of the flowering of ragweed.
Measurements cover three flowering seasons. The first includes the flowering of trees (from February to the beginning of May), the second the flowering of grasses, pines and linden (from May to the second decade of July) and the third the flowering of weeds (from the second half of July to November).
Spahić said that 26 sub-indicators have been developed that relate to certain allergenic species that exist in the territory of Montenegro: "Their degree of allergenicity and flowering period have been defined, which is particularly significant from the aspect of human health protection".
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