Pollen and mold are common allergens that can affect your health. Pollen and mold counts in the outdoor air are monitored in many places across the country. This information can help you or your doctor better understand your exposure to allergens. The Missouri Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program shares data on pollen and mold in the air in St. Louis County, Missouri.
Pollen and Mold in Outdoor Air
Pollen grains and mold spores are released into the air as part of the life cycle of plants or molds. They can be carried by the wind and cause allergy symptoms when inhaled.
In Missouri, trees and grasses release most pollens in the spring, while weed pollen is highest in the summer. Mold grows on decaying plants and leaves outdoors all year, but mold counts in the outdoor air are especially high in the fall.
Although pollen and mold amounts in the air usually follow seasonal patterns, they can change with the weather or other factors.
Allergy symptoms usually get worse when pollen or mold levels are high. However, if you are sensitive to certain types of pollen or mold, you may have allergy symptoms even when the pollen or mold amount is low.
Recent Allergy Levels
Allergy levels can change daily, depending on the amount of pollen or mold in the air. Recent allergy levels by day in St. Louis are shown in the dashboard below.
Pollen and Mold Dashboard
Historical pollen and mold trends in St. Louis County are shown in the dashboard below.
The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
Missouri Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) is a program within the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. EPHT is part of a network of people and information systems which delivers a core set of health, exposure, and hazards data, information summaries and tools to enable analysis, visualization and reporting of insights drawn from data. Those insights are intended to help data drive actions and improve community health.