Sacramentans jeer low allergy rating
News this week that Sacramento ranks 89th for allergy problems among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in America had some residents scratching their heads. And noses. And eyes.
"I completely doubt the results of the study," said Curtis Blankenship, 45, of Orangevale, who's having a particularly bad season of sneezing. "My allergies in L.A. and San Francisco were almost nonexistent compared to my allergy problems here."
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America released its annual rankings Monday on which cities are best and worst as far as spring allergy suffering. Knoxville, Tenn., is the "Spring Allergy Capital," according to the group, followed by Louisville, Ky., Chattanooga, Tenn., Dayton, Ohio, and Charlotte, N.C.
In California, according to the foundation's rankings, Sacramento is actually a less irritating place to live, in terms of allergies, than San Francisco (ranked 63rd), Modesto (64th), San Jose (67th) and Stockton (86th).
Over the years, Sacramento's rank has bounced around in the survey, from 43rd in 2003, to eighth in 2006, to 87th in 2009.
Coming in 89th this year rang just plain false to many residents in the region – where "I never even had allergies until I moved to Sacramento" is a common refrain.
To all those suffering this spring: You're not crazy.
"I don't think it's a scientific survey," said Estelle Levetin, a professor at the University of Tulsa and a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
The foundation's "Allergy Capital" rankings are based on three factors. The first and most heavily weighted involves pollen counts; the second involves the number of prescription and over-the-counter allergy medications bought per person; the third reflects the number of allergists per 10,000 patients.
One skewing factor may be the allergist count, because cities can attract allergists for reasons that have nothing to do with actual allergy levels, Levetin said.
In addition, she said, "It doesn't make sense that the coastal cities in California would be higher than Sacramento on the list."
In coastal cities, clean air blows in from the ocean. Not so in Sacramento.
"Oftentimes, winds get trapped here in the Valley," said Peter Van De Water, an assistant professor in the earth and environmental sciences department at California State University, Fresno. "And when the winds relax, all that pollen in the atmosphere drops back down on top of us."
Another reason for Sacramento's allergy problems: climate. The mild, wet winters mean grasses grow like weeds. The region is in the midst of grass pollination season, which will last through June.
"The reactions induced by grass pollens are by far the worst," said Dr. Arif Seyal, an allergist at Kaiser Permanente in Rancho Cordova.
It doesn't help, of course, that Sacramento is the city of trees. Their bad pollen season ended last month.
So are allergies actually worse in Sacramento than in other parts of the country? Should we at least have been ranked in the top 50 of bad places to breathe?
It's hard to say.
The federal government doesn't compare allergy problems by region. And experts interviewed Wednesday said there are too many factors to make an easy call. Year-to-year weather makes a huge difference, for example. As do the types of plants that flourish; whether the environment is mold-friendly (one problem Sacramento does not have); air quality; even human genetics.
"It just changes drastically. Not only does the number of people being affected change, but the timing changes," said Gerry Kress, vice president at SDI, a company that tracks health data and operates the Web site pollen.com.
He did offer one bit of comfort: This year, allergy season is bad just about everywhere.