Mélina Facchin 06:00, May 29, 2023

What if you could be informed in real time when the plants you are allergic to are pollinating? This is what the Pollin'air network offers. In several regions of France, volunteers observe nature and alert online as soon as they see pollen appear.

Spring is here! And for many, it goes hand in hand with runny nose, itchy eyes. Almost all French departments are now on red alert for pollen allergy. In Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Corsica and Grand Est, there is a network of volunteers: Pollin'air. Volunteers who observe flowers, trees around their homes and immediately launch a pollen alert, much faster than traditional sensors.

"As soon as I go out, I taste!"

At this time of year, Olivier always has a handkerchief in his pocket. He is allergic to grasses. "At the moment it's very complicated: as soon as I go out, I taste!" confirms this Strasbourg. Like all allergy sufferers, he has "a scratchy nose, a throat too, a crying eye." Olivier takes antihistamines "every day", but his treatment is even more effective if he starts it at the beginning of grass pollination, or even a little before. This is precisely where the Pollin'air network becomes useful.

Pétra lives in the Vosges, surrounded by nature, on the edge of a charming stream. She is one of the 330 volunteers of Pollin'air in the Grand Est. For the past three years, this gardening enthusiast has been carefully observing the lush flora around her home, a small botanical booklet in hand. "There, you see the fragrant blur," she said, gently grasping a thin spike between her fingers. "It pollinates," she confirms, pointing to smaller, lighter particles at the tips of leaves. "It's the pollens that fly away with the wind," she explains.

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Real-time alert

A few minutes later, Petra launched the alert on the Pollin'air Grand Est website, from his computer. "I select the plant I spotted, the network knows right away where I am, I say it is in the pollination phase and I confirm my observation."

The information is then sent in real time to those who have registered on the site, whereas traditional sensors to measure pollen levels in the air usually transmit their results with a one-week delay. Enough to allow severe allergy sufferers to start their treatment as soon as possible. And if you also like to observe the plants around you, know that Pollin'air is constantly looking for new volunteers.