Controlling the levels of airborne pollen: can heterogeneous photocatalysis help?

Airborne pollen is a worldwide problem because is a very important allergenic agent; it can be altered only by certain microorganisms and by some oxidizers, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). On the other hand, heterogeneous photocatalysis (HPC) arose as a promising technology for reducing the level of contaminants in the air, based on their degradation by the production of ROS. In this paper, study of the feasibility of HPC to diminish the counts of pollen is undertaken. The research has been carried out at different levels, from solutions to mortar specimens with the evidence that HPC is able to reduce the amount of pollen grains. This is a major breakthrough that opens the door to a whole field of research, already full of gaps, whose implications could be quite controversial.