1. Sneeze capital? Reputation may be overblown
BYLINE: Patricia Guthrie; Staff
DATE: March 14, 2000
PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution
EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Constitution
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1
Buffalo has its blizzards. In Phoenix, it can be oh-so-hot,
hot, hot. Atlanta: The city of big sneezes?
Well, maybe -- depending on the pollen-producers, the
weather and which national allergy experts are consulted.
On April 12, Atlanta recorded its highest pollen count on
record -- 6,013 -- nearly 50 times the level considered
"extremely high." The count means there were 6,013
grains of tree pollen per cubic meter of air wafting about.
On that spring day, Atlanta tallied the nation's second-
highest pollen count, behind Tulsa, Okla., which registered
a count of 6,299.
Atlanta's high counts were due to oak, sweet gum, birch
and the yellow dust of pine, the most noticed pollen that
causes the least reaction. Tulsa's tree pollen pests were
oak and birch.
"Nobody could ever say they have the worst pollen in the
country because there's just too many qualifiers," said
Michael Muilenberg, a Harvard University School of Public

2. Health instructor who compiles pollen counts in 80 cities
for the National Allergy Bureau.
While Atlanta's canopy of trees accounts for its springtime
misery from February to May, it can't compete with the
mountain cedars of Texas, which regularly register pollen
counts of 10,000 to 12,000 in Austin in January and
February.
And while eight to 10 months of tree, weed and grass
pollens may be the bane of some 727,000 Atlanta
seasonal allergy sufferers, Northerners stuck indoors half
the year avoiding snow and cold often develop equally bad
reactions to dust mites, mold and pets.
Although Southerners can't prove their allergy problems
are worse than in other parts of the country, we sneeze
more often, according to a nationwide Yankelovich survey
last year. Experts say pollen counts are deceiving because
allergy-prone people are sensitive to different exposures.
"This is a disease of perception," said Bob Berkowitz of
the Atlanta Allergy & Asthma Clinic."You don't care what
the pollen count is if you're already feeling lousy and
you're not as productive at work or school. It doesn't
matter if the count is 15, 1,500 or 15,000 if you're already
miserable."