“Four to seven is nothing — it is the same type of situation,” Waldron said. “Any place on the ranking, period, is a challenge, because there are 320 metro areas and we have the most challenging 100 here.”
Dayton is one of only a handful of cities to make both the AAFA’s fall and spring top 10 lists for places bad for allergies. In October, the foundation named Dayton as the no. 1 fall allergy capital of the country.
“For to be Dayton to be 4 in the spring (of 2010) and then No. 1 in fall, means it is one of the few places that we see causes problems for people all-year round,” Waldron said.
In 2009, Dayton ranked eighth for spring allergies and sixth for fall allergies.
Dayton perennially ranks near the top on such reports because it has a large amount of green space, which produces lots of pollen and mold spores, said William Parker, the head of the division of Allergy and Immunology at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.
“It reflects our Midwest location and the fact we have a lot of undeveloped land,” Parker said.
Factors the foundation used to determine scores include pollen counts, the amount of allergy medications taken by local residents who have allergies and the ratio of residents to board-certified allergists.
Cincinnati’s pollen count is comparable to Dayton’s, but it has far more board-certified allergists per capita, explaining why it ranks lower on the list, Parker said.
In 2010, Cincinnati ranked 58th on the spring list and 64th on the fall list.
Parker said how much industry a city has also affects air quality.
This spring, Knoxville, Tenn., took the top spot and Louisville, Ky., ranked second — the same as last year. In spring 2009, the order was reversed.
Brian Huxtable, air pollution control specialist with the Dayton’s Regional Air Pollution Control Agency, said the warmer weather on March 18 and 22 resulted in higher pollen counts, but the measurements have been fairly typical for this time of year.
“Last year, it peaked in early April when we had very high number days,” Huxtable said. “Spring is the tree season, where in the fall you have ragweed.”
About 40 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergies, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Although Dayton is an especially tough place for people with allergies all-year round, there are not many places people can go to escape pollens and airborne mold spores, experts said.
“We don’t advise people to pack up and move, because while you may escape the pollen in Dayton your allergies could be triggered by mold in the Gulf Coast or if there are pets in another place,” Waldron said. “There are so many factors that go into managing your disease.”
There are plenty of medications available to help manage symptoms, and most people respond well to them, Parker said. If medicine does not work, allergy shots usually are an effective option.
Still, Parker said allergies are simply a fact of life in this area.
“I think there are parts of the country that are as bad, but Dayton is in the top 10 on any list you see,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0749 or cfrolik@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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