Seven rules for protecting against poplar fluff. What you need to know about poplar fluff How long does poplar fluff fly?

Allergy to Poplar fluff refers to seasonal diseases and appears with the beginning of poplar flowering (from late May to June). Poplar filters the air quite well, so it is most often planted in large cities.

But this tree has one significant drawback - when flowering begins, a huge amount of poplar fluff is released, which, contrary to popular belief, IS NOT AN ALLERGEN. However, fluff plays the role of a kind of sponge that absorbs all harmful substances, including pollen, harmful substances and spores of various plants.

It is as a result of the accumulation of allergens that an allergy to poplar fluff develops, manifesting itself with negative symptoms. In addition, poplar fluff is very light and can get into premises, transport, public places, etc., provoking illness in predisposed people.

With the development of any allergic disease are determined common features, manifested immune reaction an organism that rejects the antigen, identifying it as a foreign protein.

Often a provocateur acute attack may be different kinds intoxications ( narcotic substances, alcohol, household and industrial pesticides, etc.), as well as poor ecology. Numerous studies indicate that residents of large industrial cities are 2 times more likely to suffer from allergies.

The development of an allergic reaction can also be caused by hereditary predisposition and hormonal imbalances in the patient’s body. In addition, important for the occurrence of allergic symptoms is structural change nervous system and the presence of chronic infections.

Symptoms

Allergy to poplar fluff is most often accompanied by the following symptoms:

frequent sneezing, rhinitis;
redness of the eyelids, lacrimation and pain in the eyes;
possible difficulty breathing, accompanied by suffocation;
on skin a hyperemic rash may appear, which can be local or spread throughout the body;
as a rule, the rash is accompanied by unbearable itching;
from the central nervous system increased drowsiness, lethargy and fast fatiguability. Sometimes dizziness and migraine-like symptoms are possible headache;
at severe course allergies, Quincke's edema and anaphylactic shock. In this case, the symptoms increase rapidly and there is a direct threat to the patient’s life. Therefore, despite the first aid provided, it is recommended to immediately call a medical team.

It should be remembered that allergic symptoms poplar flowering is most severely affected in windy and hot weather. With any development of the disease, it is necessary to carry out timely therapy. This will help avoid possible complications.

Therapeutic measures

Therapeutic measures to relieve an acute attack of allergy primarily involve limiting contact with the allergen (in this case, poplar fluff). Further treatment is performed according to the following algorithm:

to reduce the impact of inflammatory mediators, a course of antihistamines (Claritin, Diazolin, Loratadine, Fenkarol, etc.) is prescribed. The use of antihistamines should be carried out taking into account possible side effects (drowsiness, lethargy, loss of concentration);
to relieve external manifestations, it is recommended to use ointments (Lokoid, Hydrocortisone, etc.);
Without positive effect During treatment, oral and injectable glucocorticosteroid drugs (Prednisolone, Kenalog, Dexamezaton, etc.) may be prescribed. However, it should be taken into account that hormonal agents are not intended for long-term use, as they have a number of serious consequences;

in all cases, symptomatic therapy should be carried out, and it is also necessary to follow a hypoallergenic diet, excluding highly allergenic foods (honey, strawberries, chocolate, citrus fruits, etc.).

It is important to remember that with any changes general condition it is necessary to seek medical advice to clarify the diagnosis and choose the most the best way allergy treatment.

Possible complications of an allergic reaction

Any allergies, including a hyperreaction to poplar fluff, can cause serious complications, ranging from mild degree rhinitis and conjunctivitis before the development of an asthmatic attack.

Seasonal allergies are especially dangerous in childhood and during a woman's pregnancy. In children, if untreated, most often acute symptoms provokes the development of sinusitis, otitis, lymphadenitis and pathological changes in the respiratory system.

In pregnant women with the seasonal development of allergies, mandatory monitoring of the patient’s condition is necessary, since there is a possibility of abnormalities in the intrauterine development of the fetus, since prolonged cough and impaired nasal breathing in the mother due to allergies can provoke fetal hypoxia. In addition, in 50% of cases there is a chance of transmitting the disease to a child.

allergiyanet.ru

At the end of May – beginning of June, poplar fluff will appear on the streets of the capital, the press service of the State Budgetary Institution “Mospriroda” told M24.ru.

“There were no weather anomalies this year, so poplar fluff will appear, as usual, at the end of May or beginning of June,” explained the State Budgetary Institution Mospriroda.

There are about 300 thousand poplars growing in the capital, of which 120 thousand are “pushing”. To reduce the likelihood of an allergy to poplar fluff, you should protect the windows with mesh or gauze, and carry out wet cleaning more often - a vacuum cleaner will not help in this case. In addition, it is recommended to rinse your nose sea water, buying a special spray at the pharmacy, and also not drinking alcohol, which traditionally worsens allergies.

Experts note that poplar fluff itself does not cause allergies: it is caused by pollen from other plants that gets on the fluff. Allergy symptoms are more likely to occur in windy and hot weather.

Residents of the southwest and southeast of the city suffer most from poplar fluff. Fluff not only gets on your hair and clothes, it often clogs car radiator grilles, which can lead to breakdowns. In addition, poplar fluff burns very well - rescuers constantly warn about the danger, but the number of arsonists does not decrease. There have been cases where children played with fire in areas with large accumulations of fluff, which caused buildings and cars to catch fire.

To get rid of fluff, poplars are pruned twice a year, but this is not always effective. Down is formed only on female trees: male trees produce red earrings, pollen appears in them, which flies to the flowers of female trees, which is why down appears.

If males are trimmed, they can turn into females and also become sources of fluff. If you trim the branches on a female, the tree will not spread fluff for several years.

Poplars do not change sex because they are deprived of their gender characteristics after pruning; this is caused by stress. According to Vladimir Murashov, candidate of biological sciences, this is observed very often in plants. Biologists say that before pruning poplars, it is necessary to mark which ones are male and which are female.

In the summer of 2013, the capital authorities announced that it was planned to defeat fluff within 7 years, that is, by the summer of 2020. During this time, all females must go through an “inquisition” by city services and disappear.

www.m24.ru

Causes of allergy to poplar fluff

Poplar fluff perfectly absorbs pollen from wind-pollinated plants

Malaise occurs only during the flowering season of certain plants. The disease has another name, which was common in the past - hay fever, because before people It was believed that allergies were caused by hay.

Allergies are characterized by a hereditary predisposition. People in this risk group have certain antibody proteins in their bodies that react with the allergenic structure of pollen. By combining in the human body, the allergen and protein interact.

The result is a biological release active substances, such as histamine, which cause characteristic symptoms.

Allergens

To date, there are no characterized poplar allergens. The plant itself rarely causes allergies.

Cross reactivity

Poplar belongs to the genus of dioecious, deciduous, fast-growing trees of the Willow family. Cross-reactivity can be expected between members of the genus Populus.

When does poplar fluff appear and what pollen does it carry?

In different regions of Russia, the months when poplar begins to bloom may vary. In the south, for example, in Novorossiysk, Krasnodar and Stavropol, the first fluff appears at the end of May; in the central part of the country, for example, Moscow - in June, and in the Northern Urals it blooms by early July.

Plants blooming at this time, their pollen can be adsorbed by fluff:

Symptoms of an allergy to poplar fluff

(can be enlarged)

Here's how an allergy to fluff manifests itself. During an exacerbation, the patient experiences the following symptoms.

external manifestations - swollen, reddened wings of the nose, eyelids;
attacks of sneezing due to inflammation of the nasal mucosa, runny nose;
conjunctivitis, itchy eyes;
disorders of the digestive tract;
general malaise – headache, loss of appetite, weakness.

Allergy to poplar fluff in children

Symptoms seasonal allergies in children are almost the same as in adults, and may include:

runny nose, nasal congestion, itchy nose,
tearing, burning and itching in the eyes
sneezing.

If your child suffers from asthma, you may also notice an increase in symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

Photo: Runny nose - one of the manifestations of hay fever in children

In young children who cannot describe symptoms, some general signs that they are worried about allergies. Among them:

The child rubs the base of the nose up and down with the palm of his hand due to itching and irritation of the nasal passages.
He developed dark circles and puffiness under his eyes.

The child may also become irritable and have difficulty calming down.

It is important to monitor all manifestations of allergies

Keep a journal or diary of your symptoms. Pay attention to what your child does before the allergic reaction occurs - where he walks, what he eats and drinks, and so on. Also, keep notes on how your child responds to any treatment.

Timely completion of such a diary will help effective diagnostics and prescription of treatment.

How to distinguish allergies from colds?

Photo: Rhinitis how characteristic symptom allergies to poplar fluff

Colds and exacerbation of allergies to poplar fluff have similar symptoms. It is important to be able to distinguish one disease from another, especially if it is not possible to immediately seek help. medical care.

Unreasonable use antiviral drugs may cause worsening of the allergy sufferer's condition.

In the table below you can see the main differences between colds and down allergies.

However, there may be layers of allergies and colds. To prevent this from happening, people during seasonal exacerbation are advised to visit crowded places as little as possible and avoid hypothermia, since viral infections can seriously aggravate the patient's condition.

Diagnosis of allergies

Several methods are used to make a diagnosis.

blood test, nasal discharge for eosinophils (a subtype of blood leukocytes that absorbs and binds histamine);
radiography of the parietal sinuses of the nose - in the acute phase, shading and parietal edema are noticeable;
spirography (registration of function external respiration) – bronchial patency decreases;
skin tests and provocative tests;
questioning by an allergist about the seasonality of exacerbations, weather dependence, the presence of cross food allergies, heredity, combination bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis.

Treatment of allergies to poplar fluff

Pharmacological treatment relieves the patient of allergy symptoms. Are used antihistamines, including those based on hormones, depending on the severity of the condition.

If the main manifestation is rhinitis, then cromones are prescribed; in severe cases, glucosteroids are indicated in the form of nasal sprays, means for local application– ointments, creams. At bronchial asthma use bronchodilators. Vasoconstrictor drugs regulate tone blood vessels and relieve nasal congestion.

Only a doctor prescribes medications and chooses a treatment regimen, since medications not only have contraindications(for example, children's and old age, pregnancy), but also react when used simultaneously. This can cause undesirable effects that complicate the allergy sufferer’s condition and complicate treatment.

Drugs that are often used in the treatment of hay fever:

Loratadine;
Cetirizine;
Akrivastine;
Ebastine;
Fexofenadine and others.

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (abbreviated as ASIT) is effective, which, in particular, reduces sensitivity to allergens and reduces the manifestations of inflammation. Therapeutic effect Vaccination is more effective the earlier it is started. ASIT differs from pharmacotherapy in its longer duration clinical effect. Duration of therapy is 3–5 courses.

What can be done without drugs?

When the poplar blossoms, limit contact with the allergen. During the period of seasonal exacerbation, patients are limited in their stay at fresh air, it is not allowed to be in the green zone. It is recommended to wear sunglasses when outdoors.
After returning to the room, it is shown shower, change of clothes required. But it is also recommended to rinse your eyes with boiled water.
The air in the room is conditioned, Screens are installed on the windows to prevent fluff from getting inside.
Mandatory daily wet cleaning horizontal surfaces. For patients with severe symptoms, clinics create special wards equipped with a fine air purification system that prevents the penetration of pollen.

These activities are important during pregnancy, since the list of drugs that are approved for use during this period is limited.

Diet for allergy sufferers

If allergies to poplar and cereal pollen have worsened, it is recommended to avoid flour products and baked goods, since cross-allergy is possible. It occurs due to the similarity in the structure of the pollen allergen and any product.

Also excluded from the menu:

fish;
poultry meat;
mushrooms;
smoked;
spices, sauces;
red and orange vegetables;
chocolate, cocoa;
citrus.

The basis of the diet is lean meat, butter - cow and vegetable, dairy products, greens and the like.

Traditional methods of treatment

Celery

For hay fever folk medicine celery root is used. Take 2 tablespoons of grated root vegetable and pour into one glass cold water, insist 4 hours. After straining, consume 80 ml three times a day half an hour before meals.

This infusion will relieve allergic rhinitis, dermatitis, urticaria.

Mumiyo

Mumiyo is considered one of the most strong means from allergies. An infusion is prepared from it. 1 g of mountain resin is dissolved in 1 liter of warm water, taken once a day in the morning, 100 ml (children 1–3 years old - 50 ml, 4–7 years old - 70 ml). Already in the first days of treatment, night snoring disappears.

The infusion has a diuretic and laxative effect. Treatment is carried out in spring and autumn in courses of 20 days.

Prevention of allergies to poplar fluff

Preventing an exacerbation of the disease is difficult, but possible. Here are methods that will help improve the condition so that poplar allergies are more easily tolerated.

allergy-center.ru

You will need

— Laundry soap,
- sheet,
- pillowcase,
- ammonia,
- confidant.

faqgurupro.ru

Prevention of exacerbations
Literature

Description of poplar and poplar fluff

At the end of May and June, poplar fluff appears in cities, which many allergy sufferers (especially in the presence of pollen sensitization) mistakenly believe to be the cause of exacerbations of their diseases.

The plant that produces fluff is poplar (lat. Populus) - a genus of dioecious deciduous fast-growing trees of the Willow family ( Salicaceae), including about 35 species of trees, among which in Europe (including the European territory of Russia) the typical representative is the white poplar.

In Soviet times, poplars were used for urban landscaping much more actively than any other trees.

It purifies the air, absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen in greater volumes than any other trees that can grow without special care in our harsh climate, on streets polluted with automobile and factory exhausts.

However, along with poplars came a problem that at one time was not given much importance - “poplar fluff” (poplar seeds with a tuft of numerous thin silky hairs at the base).

There are more than 1,000 seeds in 1 gram. Thus, poplar fluff is not poplar pollen, which is present in the air in April-May, but seeds, for which silky hairs are a means of dispersal with the wind.

It is also important to note that poplars are so-called dioecious plants, that is, among them there are individuals of different sexes:

the male sex does not produce seeds,
the female sex carries the seeds and, therefore, produces poplar fluff.

Therefore, selective planting of male trees in the city that do not produce seeds and regular trimming of female trees is a measure to reduce the concentration of poplar fluff without damaging beneficial properties poplars (4).

Nonspecific effects of poplar fluff

When poplar fluff appears in the air, it increases the risk of fires due to easy combustion.

In addition, it has the ability to fall into Airways and on the mucous membranes of the eyes. At the same time, it causes mechanical irritation of the mucous membranes with the occurrence of unpleasant sensations.

With prolonged presence on the conjunctiva of the eye, like any other foreign body, fluff can cause inflammation and infection.

Plants that generate dust during the appearance of poplar fluff

It should be noted that poplar fluff itself does not cause allergies very often. This is due to the fact that it does not have factors that contribute to sensitization of the body and the occurrence of respiratory allergies, like pollen.

The size of the poplar seed and the length of its hairs are much larger than optimal for particles that create sensitization when inhaled (for example, 20-60 micrometers for pollen grains).

Most often, allergies are caused not by poplar fluff, but by plant pollen, which is adsorbed on the surface of the fluff.

When inhaled, poplar seeds linger on the nasal mucosa.

In addition, unlike pollen grains, poplar fluff does not have a permeability factor, which in pollen grains serves to pollinate the plant and, when it gets on the mucous membranes, allows pollen to pass through the epithelium of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract (1).

The occurrence of pollen allergy symptoms is due to the fact that pollen from plants that generate dust is adsorbed on the surface of poplar fluff while the poplar is spreading seeds. First of all, these are cereal grasses:

timothy grass,
cocksfoot,
meadow fescue,
meadow bluegrass,
a number of others.

During the period of poplar fluff release, the concentration of grass pollen is maximum.

In addition, at the beginning of the poplar seed dispersal season, birch finishes dusting. At the height of the spread of poplar fluff, some representatives of weeds (for example, plantain) begin to pollinate (5).

Causes of reactions to poplar fluff

Thus, the main cause of reactions to poplar fluff is an allergy to the pollen that it carries on itself. First of all, it is pollen of cereal grasses.

In the absence of pollen sensitization, the cause of unpleasant sensations when poplar fluff comes into contact with the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and eyes is mechanical irritation of the mucous membranes by a foreign body.

Clinical signs of reactions to poplar fluff

When pollen allergens brought with poplar fluff get on the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, a person suffering from hay fever develops an exacerbation of this disease.

First of all, these are the phenomena of rhinitis:

nasal congestion,
sneezing,
itchy nose,
abundant watery discharge from the nose.

The phenomena of conjunctivitis - itching of the eyes, lacrimation, redness of the eyes occur when allergens enter both the mucous membrane of the eyes and the nasal mucosa (1).

Also when high degree sensitization to pollen allergens, the ingress of poplar fluff (carrying pollen allergens) onto the nasal mucosa can provoke a reaction from the bronchi. The reaction may be an attack of pollen bronchial asthma with the development of cough with sputum and attacks of difficulty breathing.

This confirms the concept of the unity of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma “one system - one disease” (2).

Preventing contact with allergens

To prevent the exacerbation of hay fever due to contact with poplar fluff, the same measures are taken as for the prevention of contact with pollen flying freely in the air.

Allergy sufferers need to carry out wet cleaning of the premises every day during the period when poplar fluff flies on the streets

You should refrain from traveling outside the city during an exacerbation period, agricultural work, walks in the park and physical activity on the street.

To limit the entry of pollen allergens into the nose, nasal sprays are used, which create protection for the nasal mucosa with the help of a special film, and intranasal invisible respirators.

After coming from outside, it is important to change your underwear and take a shower and rinse your hair.

It is not recommended to ventilate the room if it is possible to replace ventilation by using an air conditioner. In its absence, ventilate the room better evening in wet weather (after rain) when there is no wind.

On open windows and the doors can be hung with a well-moistened sheet or gauze (in several layers).

You should also not open the windows in the car, especially when traveling outside the country.

Also, do not dry your clothes outside after washing.

In addition, it is important to prevent poplar fluff from getting into the room where you are staying for a long time, carry out wet cleaning of the room daily, and if there are poplars under the windows of the apartment, wipe the surfaces 2-3 times a day.

Since poplar seeds are relatively large particles, the use of invisible respirators (you can purchase them from the Allergifri online store) sunglasses(or glasses preference contact lenses in persons with myopia and other accommodation disorders) gives good effect in terms of protection from poplar fluff.

The best non-drug prevention of symptoms is traveling to a different climate zone.

Drug treatment of exacerbations

Drug treatment of manifestations of an allergic disease is prescribed by an allergist-immunologist.

In fact, the following treatments are used for pollen allergic rhinoconjunctivitis:

cromoglycic acid preparations in the form of eye drops,
intranasal glucocorticoids,
antihistamines for oral administration.

In the presence of pollen bronchial asthma, based on the results of the examination, an individual regimen of regular use of inhaled glucocorticosteroids or combined anti-asthmatic drugs is prescribed. In addition, recommendations are given on taking bronchodilators to relieve asthma attacks (3).

Prevention of exacerbations

In case of pollen allergies, for which poplar fluff is an additional provocateur, it is important to visit a doctor outside the season of grass dusting and the appearance of poplar fluff - in the autumn-winter period (see “seasonal planning of visits to the doctor for pollen allergies”).

At this time it is carried out specific diagnostics allergies through skin tests(prick tests, scarification tests). Allergen-specific immunotherapy is also performed.

This is done to prevent severe exacerbations, expand the spectrum of sensitization and add pollen bronchial asthma to the symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis and, of course, to significantly alleviate the symptoms of the disease in subsequent seasons (1).

For pollen allergies, allergen-specific therapy provides the best results (6).

www.allergyfree.ru

In the next ten years, the Moscow authorities plan to complete the “poplar fluff epic” in the capital, which has been going on for decades. We decided to find out whether we really need poplars and whether we can live without them.

An effective measure

Most North American poplars were brought to us from Europe in the 18th-19th centuries. Others are from India and China. Poplar-sedge has become the most widespread in central Russia. In total, 110 species of poplars grow on Earth, as well as a large number of their varieties and hybrids. We have 30 species, 12 of them are cultivated.

Active implementation of the program for landscaping new neighborhoods under construction began immediately after the war. The task was simple: choose an unpretentious and fast-growing tree, and plant it in areas allocated for landscaping near houses, along the edges of roads, in park areas. Poplar turned out to be such a “universal” tree - one of the champions in terms of growth rate. Each year, each tree becomes closer to the sky by an average of 2-4 meters.

Soviet scientists emphasized: poplars in cities are a temporary “green injection”; in 15 years it is necessary to begin replacing “fast greeners” with other trees that cause less trouble. However, even after 50 years, they did not begin to implement the replacement program, but they successfully introduced more and more doses of “green injections” into the “body” of megacities, provincial cities and towns throughout Russia.

Error or natural selection?

The “victorious march” of poplars turned into almost a tragedy: people began to grumble louder and louder about the fluff that covered the streets with a “snowy” carpet, “sneaked” into houses, and made them sneeze.

Questions started pouring in. Couldn't they have chosen a different tree? How could such an unfortunate mistake be made?

In fact, Soviet scientists were not mistaken in their choice. The fact is that poplar has “male” and “female” trees. The former bloom and pollinate the latter, and it is on the “female” poplars that seeds with fluff that irritates everyone appear. For landscaping, “male” poplars were chosen, which “do not push.” However, over time, botanists, to their displeasure, began to notice the appearance of “female” earrings on “male” trees. By “changing sex,” poplars tried to resist the massive seasonal “haircut.”

However, there is another version of the appearance of “female” poplars on city streets. IN Soviet years Gardening programs were often implemented at cleanup days, in which ordinary citizens took part. It was simply unrealistic to invite a professional dendrologist to every community cleanup, who would identify and approve “male” poplars suitable for planting.

Harm or benefit?

Poplar fluff is not an allergen. It only spreads pollen from plants, the flowering of which turns into trouble for people prone to allergies. However, poplar fluff, being a mechanical irritant, causes sneezing and coughing, and causes discomfort in many Russians.

In 2008, Eco-portal published research by American scientists who stated that poplars can eliminate the effects of negative environmental impacts, including absorbing and breaking down the carcinogenic industrial solvent trichlorethylene, as well as other environmental pollutants: gasoline, chloroform, vinyl chloride and carbon tetrachloride .

Russian professor, head of the department of clinical immunology and allergology of NMAPE named after. P.L. Shupika Larisa Kuznetsova is convinced that poplar fluff, like an “air brush,” absorbs carcinogens and heavy metal salts that enter the air from cars and industrial emissions.

Experts note that one poplar produces as much oxygen as 10 birches, 7 spruce trees, 4 pine trees or 3 linden trees. Over the course of a season, a tree “takes” 20-30 kg of soot and dust from the air. Poplar is extremely frost-resistant and is ready to adapt to the worst ecology, so finding a worthy replacement for it, according to environmentalists, will not be easy.

The head of the forestry program of Greenpeace Russia, Alexey Yaroshenko, is confident that if all the poplars are removed in Moscow, the air quality will decrease so much that it will cover all the benefits of the lack of fluff. The ecologist is confident that large polluted cities do not provide an alternative: other trees, given the current air condition, will grow very poorly, if at all.

Fighting methods

Today is one of the most effective measures The fight against poplar fluff is seasonal pruning. True, not in all Russian cities public utilities cope with the task at the proper level. While utility workers can still get to the central streets, they often don’t get to the courtyards and outskirts. So the janitors and volunteers are trying to collect and sweep away the poplar fluff to no avail.

Often children who like to set fire to “summer snow” come to their aid, which, understandably, does not cause delight among the authorities - citizens begin to be persistently reminded of the fire hazard of poplar fluff.

Pruning, by the way, has its downsides. Firstly, after being “cut”, the tree looks ugly for some time, which does not contribute to improving the urban appearance. Secondly, ideal pruning should be completed by applying a special healing composition to the wounds of the tree, which does not allow the tree to collapse. It is clear that landscapers have neither the energy nor the time to carry out such painstaking work. Trees rotted from the inside fall, destroying cars and injuring people. However, emergency situations old trees also create average duration The life of a poplar is 100 years.

In Moscow and a number of Russian cities, for example, Samara and Tomsk, planting poplars is prohibited. At the same time, comprehensive programs are being carried out that include crowning, the use of special reagents that do not allow the seeds to open, and the gradual replacement of poplars with other types of trees - linden, birch, chestnuts. Cutting down all the flowering poplars at once means “denuding” the city streets.

Various types of poplar are widespread in Canada and the United States. In some American cities, planting “female” poplars is prohibited for the same reason - to avoid a “blizzard”. On special plantations, sterile hybrid varieties are grown, on which seeds do not develop; they are used primarily for the production of cellulose.

Americans use flexible poplar wood to make snowboards, boats, boxes, pallets and even electric guitars. University of Michigan biologist Curtis Wilkerson proposes using genetically modified poplars as an effective and cheap biofuel.

In Edmonton, Canada, starting in 1980, a program was implemented to replace poplars with other trees. It only affected urban areas, but wild trees continue to cause many problems for city residents. For residents who dream of planting a poplar near their home, as well as landscape designers who want to use this tree to decorate their gardens, Canadian authorities strongly recommend choosing only “male trees” or sterile varieties in special nurseries, and in addition, promptly replacing old trees.

Residents of Tyumen will have to endure the downy attack for about two weeks - this is how long the balsam poplar scatters its seeds, which are generously planted almost throughout the city. The areas most affected by the poplar blizzard can be considered the House of Defense and KPD; in the new microdistricts there is no such scourge.

As the leading engineer of the Committee for Improvement and Gardening of the Kalinin District of Tyumen told the Vslukh.ru correspondent Lyubov Melikhova, poplar is a very useful tree, and if not for the only disadvantage - fluff, it would continue to be actively used in plantings. It copes well with noise and dust insulation, absorbs moisture well, which is important in our marshy area, and grows quickly.

Poplars began to appear in the cities of the USSR after the war. Landscaping began in Moscow, when it was necessary to quickly restore the appearance of the city, and then poplars spread throughout the country, including being planted in large quantities in Tyumen.

Author of the book “Walks in Tyumen” Alexander Ivanenko writes: “In addition to the frail woody vegetation of the Deputies Square, the microdistrict was filled with poplars. They were boarded immediately when the houses were handed over for occupancy, and they are all the same age as the microdistrict. A wonderful tree - balsam poplar - for the city. It grows quickly, with good conditions grows up to a meter or more in height per year, the leaves perfectly capture city dust, release healthy substances into the air - phytoncides, reduce noise, and are pleasing to the eye when they are densely green in the summer and brightly yellow in the fall, they simply reproduce: stick a poplar stick into the soil and Water it, it will turn green in a couple of weeks.”

Nowadays balsam poplars are no longer planted; in Tyumen they are being replaced by their pyramidal counterparts. What to do with old plantings? Naturally, you cannot cut them down.

“The city carries out planned anti-aging pruning of branches at a certain time - from October 15 to March 31, branches are pruned either by ½ or ¾ of their length. Now, in June, there can be no pruning, even if the fluff is very annoying to the residents, except for sanitary purposes - if the branches have broken off or the tree is dry,” said Lyubov Melikhova.

Tyumen residents also complain about poplars because allergies worsen in June. Doctors say that the fluff itself does not cause allergic reactions, but it carries grass pollen, which is the culprit of hay fever. .

Firefighters have a hectic life during the poplar flowering period - the fluff can cause serious fires. Here we can recall the fire at the Tekutyevsky cemetery and in one of the city’s garage cooperatives, which destroyed 12 garages.

He shared his expert opinion with Vslukh.ru Sergey Yurlov, who worked for 25 years on the environmental committee. According to him, poplars cannot be cut down en masse because of their fluff, since they are a kind of “vacuum cleaners” - they perfectly clean the air not only of dust, but also of toxins.

“They began to actively plant poplars in the 60s and 70s,” explained Sergei Fedorovich. – Then I didn’t really think about which ones were “male” and which were “female”, because the fluff comes only from “female” poplars. Now they are gradually being replaced by “male” and pyramidal ones. This process has been going on for more than 10 years."

According to Sergei Yurlov, solving the problem of poplar fluff needs to be approached comprehensively and, along with the gradual replacement of poplars, pruning of young trees should be more actively used. After pruning, the tree does not produce fluff for two years. And where there are a lot of poplars, you need to plant seedlings of other trees between them and remove the poplars as they grow.

Allergy sufferers mostly suffer from fluff. This year there are especially many of them compared to last year. There are more of those who are forced to toil and suffer. So the other day, in the courtyard at the intersection of Volodarsky and Ordzhonikidze streets, according to eyewitnesses, a downy whirlwind hit a girl passing by, which caused a strong allergic reaction, passers-by called an ambulance.

When poplar fluff would fly in Moscow or other Russian cities in 2018, one could predict by the arrival of strong spring heat. After all, it was precisely this that caused the early appearance of poplar fluff in the month of May, instead of the usual June for such a thing.

Poplar fluff floating in the air looks beautiful. With every breath of wind it playfully flies into different sides. But not everyone can calmly enjoy this view. Many are beginning to suffer allergic manifestations caused by this beautiful natural phenomenon.

In May, the streets were filled with poplar fluff, hated by the townspeople. It is hateful for people prone to hay fever.

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to plant pollen. The disease was discovered back in early XIX century. Today, 15-35% of the population suffers from hay fever, depending on the region. However, these figures may be underestimated - not every allergy sufferer consults a doctor, preferring to self-medicate.

But there is nothing to blame for poplar fluff - there is no allergy to it as such. However, fluff is capable of carrying pollen and spores of other plants, which cause an allergic reaction, manifested in the form of a runny nose, red eyes, cough, and dermatitis.

To find out which plant pollen causes allergies, it is necessary to conduct allergy testing. It consists of either applying an allergen solution to scratches on the skin or testing the blood for antibodies to the allergen.

It should be borne in mind that most allergy sufferers experience cross-allergy during seasonal exacerbations. Those who suffer from a reaction to birch pollen may also experience allergies to carrots, hazelnuts, apples, and peaches. If you are allergic to wormwood, you may experience a reaction to citrus fruits, honey, or sunflower seeds.

Harm from poplar fluff in Moscow for office workers and vehicle drivers

In hot weather, office windows are often open. Fluff flying into the premises gets into office equipment, leading to breakdowns. It clogs the radiators, preventing air flow, and the equipment overheats.

You can save yourself from poplar fluff by simply closing the windows and using air conditioning.

In addition, you should not work on a computer with the side wall of the system unit removed. You should also regularly inspect the equipment and remove any adhering fluff.

Cars suffer from a similar problem. Debris and small stones flying out from under the wheels of the car in front fly through the air conditioner condenser and get stuck in the cooling radiator. Poplar fluff is also stuffed there, which binds everything together. fine particles debris and forms a thick “fur coat”, similar to dust compacted into a lump in the dust collector of a vacuum cleaner.

Poplar fluff can cause fires in Moscow

Poplar fluff is extremely fire hazardous - in a matter of seconds, square meters of fluff in yards, parks, summer cottages. Large accumulations of fluff between garages are especially dangerous.

While adults can accidentally start a fire by dropping an unextinguished cigarette into the fluff, children and teenagers often deliberately set fire to it for fun. However, adults are also guilty of this - for example, on May 28, 2018, in Bobruisk, he almost burned down wooden house- two men set fire to the fluff next to a building under construction.

All questions about the harmfulness of poplar fluff were answered by the head of the Moscow Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Protection Anton Kulbachevsky.

He stated that down is the best natural filter that absorbs all carcinogenic substances. And, of course, scattering along the street and road network, it absorbs a lot harmful substances and then, getting different ways into the human respiratory tract, can irritate the mucous membranes and cause some allergic reactions.

Kulbachevsky also assured everyone that Moscow poplars will stop producing fluff in 10-15 years naturally. It has become much smaller, and we should also not forget that a lot depends on weather conditions.

Last year there was a cold May and early June, so the poplars began to fluff only at the end of June. This spring there was a very warm May, at the end of which fluff began to appear, so flowering and fluffing will take place in the first ten days of June.

The destruction of poplars in Moscow will bring a number of big troubles

There is only one way to combat fluff - pour water on it, sweep it into heaps and dispose of it.

At the same time, it is impossible to get rid of poplars - they are necessary to purify the air.

On the one hand, poplar is a source of fluff. On the other hand, it is the most resilient and strong tree that can exist in a transformed urban environment.

The lack of poplars for a city like Moscow is fraught with big problems, including for allergy sufferers. The question is very ambiguous. I think that for large, smoky highways and for the center of Moscow there is nothing to replace poplar yet.”

Beijing has found a solution to the problem with poplar fluff

They began actively planting poplars in Moscow in the 1950s-1960s. The trees turned out to be ideal for landscaping the city - the poplar is unpretentious, can survive even on highly saline soils, tolerates the presence of smoke and soot in the air, and grows very quickly. In addition, it is capable of producing several times more oxygen than pine or spruce, and actively absorbs metal-containing dust.

In the coming years, there may be much fewer poplars in Moscow: in 2012, the authorities promised to rid the city of “fluffy” trees and replace them with other species.

These plans were confirmed by the head of the capital’s Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Protection, Anton Kulbachevsky, in 2014.

In Beijing, they proposed solving the problem in a more sophisticated way - changing the sex of trees using special injections. The fact is that only “female” poplars “push”. However, planting exclusively “boys” does not save the situation - under certain conditions they are capable of changing gender. In particular, this is facilitated by the difficult environmental situation in cities and even the pruning of branches.

For several days now, Izhevsk residents have been complaining about poplar fluff - the city is literally drowning in “summer snow.” How to protect yourself from fluff, whether it is possible to cut down poplars and when the attack will end, Komsomolskaya Pravda found out.

It turned out that, contrary to popular belief, poplar blooms not in the middle, but at the beginning of summer.

Poplar blossoms in May, and pollination occurs in June,” says Dmitry Adakhovsky, a practicing biologist and teacher at Udmurt State University. - Exactly in June, and not in July, as the famous song says. Typically, flowering begins on the 3-4th and lasts about 10 days. This year it is 20 days late.

According to the expert, we are now experiencing the peak of the poplar fluff season. According to Adakhovsky's forecasts, it will last another 4-5 days.

WHERE DOES SO MUCH COME FROM?

Poplars in Izhevsk began to be planted back in post-war years– then it was necessary to quickly green the city. Fast-growing and unpretentious trees are ideal for this. Trees were planted as the city was built up. In addition to poplars, linden, ash, and apple trees were planted. Gradually, they abandoned the landscaping of city streets with poplars - there was too much fluff from them.

However, according to the chief dendrologist of Izhevsk in 1993-2006, Lyubov Yakovitskaya, not all planted trees have fluff.

In Izhevsk, work to maintain green spaces is not carried out at the proper level, she noted. – Now they are fighting poplars by performing deep pruning, which is not always suitable. Proper tree shaping can help, but it doesn't. the only way solve the problem of. For example, very old trees should be replaced with new plantings of other tree species: ash, linden, elm, maple - they are also well suited for urban landscaping.

There is another way to solve the problem - water the trees and knock down the fluff. This is exactly what they do in some other cities.

If at least the watering machines spray water not only on the roads, but also on the trees in the evening, then the poplar fluff will begin to fly in smaller quantities, it will simply stick together and settle on the ground, thereby not flying like snow around the city and the situation may get better, - Yakovitskaya noted.

But it’s not worth cutting down trees completely, experts are sure.

I don't think it's worth giving them up. Poplars are very necessary and useful, all the dirt settles on them, and despite the fact that for allergy sufferers it’s a complete hell, it’s impossible to live without poplars in cities,” says Adakhovsky.

By the way, according to the deputy head of the Izhevsk Improvement and Road Services Service, Firdaus Kharisov, now only emergency trees are pruned in the city - no other work is being done with poplars.

We do not carry out any work with poplars as such,” he noted. “However, if the tree is old and dry and is really in disrepair, it can be cut down or crowned.

We sent a request to the Izhevsk administration to find out exactly how the city authorities are dealing with the problem, how many poplars there are now in the city, and how many of them are planned to be cut down, and what trees will replace them.

HOW TO DEAL WITH ALLERGIES?

Poplar fluff itself is not an allergen, but it can carry street dust, microorganisms and pollen, which cause a reaction. In addition, poplar fluff irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract of even healthy people.

Of course, it’s better to try not to be on the street, but if going out into the world cannot be avoided, then you can put on glasses, they will help protect your eyes from fluff, advised Anna Viktorovna, head of the therapeutic department of city hospital No. 2. – Are there special nostril filters or just gauze bandages will help protect against poplar fluff getting into your nose. There are many medications available to help relieve allergy symptoms. But before visiting the pharmacy, you should definitely consult a doctor who will help you choose suitable drugs. In most cases, they have a number of contraindications and have side effects. Therefore, you should not rely on television advertising or advice from a pharmacy salesperson.

REMEMBER

A mosquito net installed in the windows of an apartment and office will protect the air in the room during ventilation.

Try not to go outside in the middle of a clear day - the warmer it is outside, the higher the fluff flies. So, from 11 to 18 hours it is better to be indoors.

IMPORTANT!

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations in Udmurtia warns that poplar fluff can easily cause a fire. On June 25 alone, the department recorded five calls for burning fluff. The reason is careless handling of fire by unidentified persons.

Down is highly flammable and burns at high speed, notes the department’s press service. - The source of ignition can be an unextinguished cigarette butt or match, fire or welding work. For children, setting poplar fluff on fire is a favorite pastime, after which they often have to call the fire department. Down flares up like gunpowder and fire can reach buildings and structures.

Regularly clean, clean and water yards, sidewalks and roads where fluff accumulates;

Do not make fires or burn garbage;

Install water barrels and billboards with a set of primary funds fire extinguishing (fire extinguishers, sand, hooks, shovels, etc.);

Stop any games by teenagers and children that involve setting fire to fluff.