China’s ‘green great wall’ triggers hay fever misery: scientists

For Ma Bo, a resident of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, late July marks the beginning of another round of suffering.

He has suffered from hay fever – an allergic condition triggered by inhaling pollen – for many years. His symptoms have gradually worsened since 2018, progressing from sneezing and conjunctivitis to an allergic cough and, eventually, bronchial asthma.

The artemisia plant, which is widely cultivated in northwestern China to contain wind and sand erosion, has been identified as the trigger for his symptoms. Its pollen is particularly active from late summer to mid-autumn.

This resilient plant contributes to the “green great wall” – the weapon across the arid northern region that China uses to fight desertification – but it is also suspected of causing an increasingly concerning endemic hay fever outbreak.

Now, after years of research, a group of Chinese scientists have confirmed the plant’s role in causing the disease at a molecular level and identified several allergenic substances in its pollen.

For the first time, the team has identified five volatile components from a member of the artemisia plant family, confirming they could all trigger allergic reactions. These findings “provide a basis” for preventing and treating allergic diseases in areas where the plants are grown, according to a report in the state-owned newspaper Science Daily on Monday.

The study, which was conducted jointly by scientists from the school of pharmacy at Xian Jiaotong University and the Yulin Forestry Science Research Institute – both in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province – was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials at the end of May.

Artemisia, which has more than 100 species, is easy to grow and has low cultivation costs. However, according to a 2023 report by the Health Times, a subsidiary of People’s Daily, its pollen has become a common allergy cause in northern China.

  

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