Holiday Sniffles? Could Be Your Tree!

Do you have a case of the holiday sniffles? It could be your Christmas tree! Allergists have long suspected a link between "live" Christmas trees and the rash of runny, itchy noses they see each December. The problem is that once they're cut -- usually weeks before Christmas -- the evergreens are no longer live, but dead. And nature's way of breaking down dead plants is through mold, a powerful allergen.

In an experiment to prove the mold theory, Connecticut allergy specialist Dr. John Santilli placed a cut Christmas tree inside an apartment and took air samples for two weeks. The normal mold count in a typical home is 500 to 700 spores per cubic meter of air. Within 24 hours of placing the tree in the apartment, the mold count rose to 800 spores per cubic meter. By day 14, the mold count had skyrocketed to 5,000 spores per cubic meter.

"The longer you keep the tree up, the worse it gets," said Santilli, who recently presented his findings at a meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in Dallas. A tree begins decaying as soon as it's cut, Santilli explained. "Mother Nature's cleanup crew is the mold. The molds take over and start decaying it." Add in the dry needles, leaves and grass in their branches and Christmas trees are an allergy disaster waiting to happen.

If you or a family member suffer from allergies, you might consider getting an artificial tree this year. Not only will you breathe easier, but there won't be any needles to pick out of the carpet after the holidays!

If your Christmas tradition demands a real tree, allergists suggest spraying the tree down with a good stiff spray from a garden hose first, then letting it dry before bringing it inside. The less time it spends in your house, the easier you'll breathe.