Would pollen lower school grades? This is what appears to be demonstrated by new research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, which indicates that on days when there is a lot of pollen in the air, Finnish national test results are significantly worse. This trend, which was observed on more than 90,000 students over fourteen years, raises questions about the equality of academic assessment conditions depending on weather conditions.
For years, scientists have known that pollen allergies, such as allergic rhinitis, can disrupt the well-being and concentration of students. However, this new study conducted in Finland explores for the first time the concrete impact of this exposure on performance during end-of-year exams.
Researchers used data from the results of more than 92,000 high school students who took their exams in Helsinki and Turku between 2006 and 2020, linking them with daily levels of alder and hazel pollen. This examination period takes place in spring, that is to say when pollen is particularly present in Europe.
The results of this study, relayed by the Gizmodo site, show us a U-shaped relationship between pollen count and grades: days with pollen detected are associated with lower results than those without pollen. Concretely, each increase of 10 grains of alder pollen per cubic meter was associated with a drop of 0.042 points in the results, while each increase of 10 grains of hazel pollen was associated with a drop of 0.17 points. This may seem modest, but it is important to note that the highest daily pollen count observed during the study period was 521 alder pollen grains per cubic meter.
Take pollen into account for exams?
According to the authors, these point drops can have significant cumulative effects. In a school system where grades count for admission to university or professional integration, losing a few points because of pollen, a factor that is completely beyond the students’ control, raises issues of equity. Furthermore, certain subjects, especially those requiring high concentration such as mathematics or physics/chemistry, are more sensitive to pollen. This may suggest that pollen not only impacts allergies, but also our cognitive performance.
Faced with these observations, researchers are calling for better consideration of environmental factors in exam planning. Among the solutions discussed are moving sessions out of high pollen seasons, improving access to information on pollen forecasts and raising awareness among students and health professionals of the importance of rapid treatment for allergic symptoms.
The scientists point out, however, that their study is purely observational in nature. Although it establishes a strong correlation, it does not prove that pollen is directly the cause of lower academic performance. Further research would be needed to explore the different factors at play and replicate the study in other countries.
Despite this limitation, these results open a new avenue of reflection on the interaction between environmental health and academic success. This area is still little explored, but potentially decisive for equal opportunities.
