Coming from North America, the ambrosia plant has been growing on our land since the end of the 20th century. It comes on top of the damage caused to health by pollen in the spring. His particuliarity ? A few grains are enough to trigger eczema, rhinitis and other diseases, it can extend to more than 30 kilometers. The ARS (Regional Health Agency) estimates that these diseases “cost around 430 million euros of care in France” each year. A fight is therefore mandatory to counter this scourge. Only, ambrosia does not facilitate the task.
A mobilization request
To counter it, it must first be assessed; to do this, a pollination sensor was installed on April 17 in Sébazac. He will measure throughout the season the amount of pollen present in the air, to observe the part coming from ambrosia in the surroundings. These results will make it possible to establish the action plan of the ARS and the CPIE (Permanent Center for Environmental Initiatives), to better counter them in 2024 by uprooting them before the pollen cycle. But the organizations mainly call citizens and municipalities. In each of them, an ambrosia referent is appointed to make the link between the inhabitants and the CPIE.
To prevent its rapid spread, the agencies then encourage everyone to report the presence of ambrosia or to inquire. It can be done via the referent of each of the municipalities or more simply on the site signalement-ambroisie.fr. Do not try to pull them out without wearing gloves and a mask.