A new study says your allergy just won't go away since air pollution and climate change are apparently increasing the occurrence of allergies all over the world.

Research shows a pair of air pollutants linked to climate change could also be significantly contributing to this unprecedented rise in the number of cases of colds, wheezing and coughing during this allergy season.

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These gases appear to trigger some chemical changes in specific airborne allergens and might even increase their potency. The combination of nitrogen dioxide and ground level ozone can create changes in the climate around the world and even causes airborne allergies to become more widespread.

In prior studies, Ulrich Pöschl, Christopher Kampf and Manabu Shiraiwa from the Max Planck Institute explored how these allergy causing substances can transform in the air. From that body of work, the team decided to dig deep by examining how pollution caused by vehicles could increase the strength of these allergens.

Using computer simulations and laboratory experiments, the team studied the effects of the various levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide on a specific allergen called the major birch pollen or Bet v 1.

Researchers discovered that ozone, which is the main component of smog, apparently transforms an amino acid called tyrosine found in Bet v 1 proteins via oxidation. When this transformation takes place, it sets off chemical reactions where the reactive oxygen binds proteins together and alters their structures, including their biological effects.

Kampf confirms that when this process occurs, the cross linked proteins can become more potent and deadly allergens.

The team also discovered that nitrogen dioxide, which is also found in automobile exhaust, also seems to alter the polarity of the binding abilities of the Bet v 1 allergy proteins. In connection with the effects of ozone, the researchers predict this might enhance the immuno response of the human body to these particles, most especially in humid, mostly wet and smoggy environments.

Upon identifying these substances, scientists also plan to pinpoint other mutated allergenic proteins in the environment and hope to build a collaboration with biomedical teams to study their effects on the human immune system.

Tagsair pollutants allergens allergies worse pollution, air pollutants, allergy season, air pollution allergies, Air Pollution and Climate Change are Making Your Allergies Worse: Study