Protecting Your Family From Pollen and Ozone
Follow these tips to avoid overexposure to ragweed pollen and ozone during the summer and fall, especially if you or
family members have allergies or asthma:13
• Listen to the radio, watch TV, or visit online news outlets for daily pollen reports and air quality conditions
(check EPA’s www.airnow.gov website and the National Allergy Bureau’s site at http://www.aaaai.org/nab).
This is especially important on sunny days with little or no wind, when ozone concentrations can be
particularly high.
• On days when pollen counts or ozone levels are high, minimize outdoor activities and keep windows closed
when possible.
• Bathe or shower after spending time outdoors because pollen may have collected on your skin and in your hair.
• Wash bedding frequently to remove pollen that settles on pillows and sheets, and vacuum regularly, preferably
with a vacuum cleaner that contains a high-efficiency particulate (HEPA) filter.
• Minimize your family’s exposure to other known allergens because of the cumulative effect of multiple allergens
in producing symptoms.
• Try to save your most strenuous outdoor activities for days with relatively low ozone levels, or do them in the
morning before ozone levels rise.
1 G. D’Amato, et al., “On the Interrelationship Between Outdoor
Air Pollution and Respiratory Allergy.” Aerobiologia 16 (2000), pp.
1-6; G. D’Amato, et al., “The Role of Outdoor Air Pollution and
Climatic Changes on the Rising Trends in Respiratory Allergy,”
Resp Med 95 (2001), pp. 606-611; G. D’Amato, et al., “Outdoor
Air Pollution, Climatic Changes and Allergic Bronchial Asthma,”
Eur Resp J 20 (2002) , pp. 763-776; G. D’Amato, “Environmental
Urban Factors (Air Pollution and Allergens) and the Rising Trends
in Allergic Respiratory Diseases,” Allergy 57 (2002), suppl. 72, pp.
30-33.
2 Certified Allergy and Asthma Consultants, Allergic Rhinitis (Albany,
New York, 2003), available at...