Summer thunderstorms: danger for allergy sufferers

Jens Richter is editor-in-chief at Since July 2020, the doctor and journalist has also been responsible as COO for business operations and the strategic development of

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For the weekend, thunderstorms should finally bring some cooling. But beware of allergy sufferers: Red alert applies to lightning and thunder!

For all those suffering from heat damage, the air is a special pleasure shortly after a violent summer thunderstorm: refreshingly cool and apparently washed clean of dust and exhaust fumes. But many hay fever and asthmatics struggle for breath especially desperately.

Pollen bursts in the moist air

The reason: a particularly large number of pollen allergens float through the air. And they irritate the mucous membranes of allergy sufferers and can trigger violent asthma attacks. Experts suspect that the electrostatic charge during a thunderstorm catapults a particularly large amount of pollen into the air and is distributed by the often violent gusts of wind. In addition, due to the high humidity, pollen could burst and its tiny allergy-triggering protein particles then get particularly deep into the bronchi.

Wait at least half an hour

The European Foundation for Allergy Research (ECARF) and the German Pollen Information Service Foundation (PID) therefore urgently recommend hay fever and asthma patients to wait at least 30 minutes after a thunderstorm before going outside again. This is how long it takes for pollen and allergens to sink to the ground and for allergen levels to return to normal.

Source: Press release of the European Foundation for Allergy Research (ECARF) from 08/14/2015

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