Perhaps you or people in your surroundings have already noticed the hay fever season has started early this year and is more severe than in recent years. The early start of the pollen season can largely be attributed to the warm winter. Thanks to the warm winter, many trees and plants are blossoming earlier and simultaneously this year. It is about ten years ago that the LUMC (university medical hospital in Leiden) has registered such high concentrations in the end of April and beginning of May. Not only can the high pollen concentration be measured at the moment, it is also visible in the form of a yellow haze on outdoor cars.
As mentioned before, the weather has a big influence on the pollen season. Besides the temperature, the sun and rain also affects the pollen concentration in the air. In sunny and windless weather, the pollen concentration in the air is higher than during rainy and windy weather. The wind causes the pollen to spread rapidly over large areas, resulting in lower local concentrations. The rain washes (as it were) the pollen from the air. When the raindrops come into contact with the pollen in the air, the pollen will stick to the raindrops and will fall down on the ground. Hence, one has fewer hay fever problems during and after rain.
The pollen season cannot be stopped, but fortunately you can do some things that can reduce exposure. Below, some tips are described.
Tips to combat hay fever nuisance
- Put on glasses or sunglasses when outdoor
- Wash your hands regularly to prevent spread to the eyes
- Wash and brush your hair regularly, especially before bedtime
- Wash your clothes when you have been in contact with pollen
- Regularly wash your linens
- Vacuum you home regularly to remove pollen that have entered your home
- Open windows selectively, preferably in places where there is no wind and early in the morning or late in the evening. Alternatively, use anti-pollen screens for your windows
- Switch the ventilation system in your car to recirculation mode and keep windows closed while driving
- Customize your garden design to your symptoms, avoid the pollen you are allergic to
- Implement air purification in your home and office to permanently remove pollen from the air
Air purification as a measure against hay fever
As a final tip to combat hay fever nuisance and to reduce symptoms, we mentioned implementing air purification in your home. We would like to go into detail to explain this. The average person spends about 90% of their time indoors. This means he is outside, on average, only 10% of his time. However, this does not mean that exposure to pollen is only 10%. Buildings are not 100% airtight, one opens windows and doors to ventilate or a ventilation system transports outdoor air indoors. Therefore, one is also exposed to pollen indoors. Tips to reduce the indoor exposure in the home or office, are regularly vacuuming and selectively opening windows and doors. However, one cannot always control these measures or they appear to have insufficient effect.
In the event that you experience hay fever symptoms indoors at home or at the office, air purification is a good solution. By applying air purification indoors, the pollen will permanently be removed from the indoor air. As a result, the pollen concentration will be reduced, leading to a reduction of hay fever symptoms. With an efficiency of 97-99%, the VFA Solutions air purifiers are a very effective solution to combat hay fever symptoms. The air purifiers of VFA Solutions will not only remove pollen permanently and very efficiently from the air, but also viruses, bacteria, traffic emissions, particulate matter and even ultrafine particles are permanently removed from the air.
If you want to implement air purification, there are various options of which you can choose from. Air purification can be used in an existing ventilation system (in a building, office or a home), but also as a standalone plug-and-play system in a separate room/area. For use in a home ventilation system, you can take a look at the ASPRA S INduct air purifier or the ASPRA L1000 INduct (for use in a larger ventilation system). For use as a standalone air purifier in a separate room, you can take a look at the ASPRA Poco (up to +/- 25m2 area), the ASPRA Aura (up to +/- 40m2 area) or the ASPRA L1000 (up to +/- 100m2 area). Take a look at our product for more possibilities.
These are just a few possibilities VFA Solutions can offer you. For an optimal advice, we recommend contacting us (free of charge). We can look at your situation, take into account your needs and budget and provide a tailored advise.