JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We often show you a graphic during our weather forecasts to let you know how bad the pollen is -- now, a lab at Edward Waters University is giving us even more data to work with.
Dr. Brian Seymour and his assistant, Jordan Oliver, a senior at Edward Waters University, are on a mission to find out what kind of pollen is flying in the air. They look at microscopic images of tiny particles.
“Every year this happens in the spring season and it’s getting worse,” Dr. Seymour said.
They use that data to help people stay aware of which pollen can attack their health.
READ: Data from Dr. Seymour’s counting station
The Edward Waters University campus is inside Health Zone One. Health Zone One is the core of Jacksonville.
Dr. Seymour says 85% of African-Americans tend to have a genetic predisposition to asthma, but it’s not typically triggered until they are exposed to toxins. An adverse reaction to pollen could trigger allergies, asthma attacks and even death.
Once a week, Dr. Seymour and Oliver climb up a ladder to the roof of a dorm on the EWU campus to collect new data on pollen.
They remove the rotator drum with a new one and take the old one back to the lab for analysis. The drum has one week of pollen collected.
It is examined under a microscope and highlighted with a pink dye. Dr. Seymour can see the difference in each pollen type. He counts the pollen one by one.
Beyond pollen, another scary particle shows up as black dots. That is toxic particles in the air and we are breathing this.
Dr. Seymour believes that’s what contributes to high rates of allergy and asthma in Health Zone One.
“Ultimately, we would like to end the disparity that exists in our community specifically with respect to allergy and asthma.
Pollen collection is made possible through a grant that will end in two months. Dr. Seymour is hoping for an extension because monitoring the pollen and particles in the air can help people that become sick and miserable with allergies.