What is Green, a symbol of the Holiday Season, and makes you sneeze? The answer could very well be your Christmas Tree.
A live Christmas tree could be the culprit behind some folks runny, itchy noses reports Linda Shrieves in an article published in the Orlando Sentinel.
"I've been in practice for over 30 years and every year between Christmas and New Year's we have everybody come in with recurring sinus infections, states Connecticut allergy specialist Dr. John Santilli.
Determined to prove his point, Santilli placed a live Christmas tree inside an intern's apartment and took air samples for two weeks. For the first three days, the mold counts inside the apartment hovered around 800 spores per cubic meter of air, compared with a normal range of 500 to 700 spores per cubic meter. But by day 14, the mold count had skyrocketed to 5,000 spores per cubic meter. "The longer you keep the tree up, the worse it gets," said Santilli, who presented his study at a recent national meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in Dallas. "By the second week, the tree was putting out a bucket of spores. That's when it gets to be a problem, especially if you have asthma or are prone to sinus infections."
Santilli says the dead tree begins decaying shortly after it's cut. Though most of us don't associate mold with Christmas trees, "Mother Nature's cleanup crew is the mold, he said. "The molds take over and start decaying it."
Although "Christmas Tree Allergy" is well known in the medical community there has been some debate over what causes the sneezing, runny noses and watery eyes: pollen or mold.
It is theorized that as many as 7 percent of people with allergies also may be allergic to their Christmas trees. This comes from Canadian researchers interviews with 1,657 patients in 1969.
That team suspected the culprits were pollens that stuck to the Christmas tree and balsam resins. Santilli, thinks his new research proves that mold may be the biggest problem.
Minnesota based WorldWide Oxide offers an EPA Approved GREEN mold preventor called Vital Oxide that is the perfect product to keep the mold problem at bay, states company spokesman Tom Heller. Vital Oxide is water based and completely odorless. Heller states that more information on this is available at the company website www.worldwideoxide.com - 16732
A live Christmas tree could be the culprit behind some folks runny, itchy noses reports Linda Shrieves in an article published in the Orlando Sentinel.
"I've been in practice for over 30 years and every year between Christmas and New Year's we have everybody come in with recurring sinus infections, states Connecticut allergy specialist Dr. John Santilli.
Determined to prove his point, Santilli placed a live Christmas tree inside an intern's apartment and took air samples for two weeks. For the first three days, the mold counts inside the apartment hovered around 800 spores per cubic meter of air, compared with a normal range of 500 to 700 spores per cubic meter. But by day 14, the mold count had skyrocketed to 5,000 spores per cubic meter. "The longer you keep the tree up, the worse it gets," said Santilli, who presented his study at a recent national meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in Dallas. "By the second week, the tree was putting out a bucket of spores. That's when it gets to be a problem, especially if you have asthma or are prone to sinus infections."
Santilli says the dead tree begins decaying shortly after it's cut. Though most of us don't associate mold with Christmas trees, "Mother Nature's cleanup crew is the mold, he said. "The molds take over and start decaying it."
Although "Christmas Tree Allergy" is well known in the medical community there has been some debate over what causes the sneezing, runny noses and watery eyes: pollen or mold.
It is theorized that as many as 7 percent of people with allergies also may be allergic to their Christmas trees. This comes from Canadian researchers interviews with 1,657 patients in 1969.
That team suspected the culprits were pollens that stuck to the Christmas tree and balsam resins. Santilli, thinks his new research proves that mold may be the biggest problem.
Minnesota based WorldWide Oxide offers an EPA Approved GREEN mold preventor called Vital Oxide that is the perfect product to keep the mold problem at bay, states company spokesman Tom Heller. Vital Oxide is water based and completely odorless. Heller states that more information on this is available at the company website www.worldwideoxide.com - 16732
About the Author:
Before you put up your christmas treethis year be sure to educate yourself about how it can effect your health. Your tree could be making you ill. Learn more about about mold on your christmas tree
