LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — As spring brings warmer weather it also brings allergy issues for many in the Las Vegas valley. So much so, that certain types of trees are banned in Clark County due to the high levels of pollen they produce.
“I have all environmental allergies, mulberry, sage,” Karen Hernandez said. ‘But yet I have one in my backyard because I live on the east side so it’s an older area so you have mostly olive trees, mulberry.”
While a simple outing at the park may seem nice to many, when someone has allergies it can be a nuisance.
“Red itchy eyes, sneezing, dry eyes, coughing,’ Courtney Ramirez said. “I take double dose of allergy medicine on top of my vitamins and even then it’s not enough.”
While environmental allergies are often associated with specific allergens, some are sensitive to irritants in the air, with tree pollen being one of the biggest reasons people’s respiratory and immune systems act up.
Mulberry and olive trees are considered a public health hazard as Clark County banned them from being sold or planted over 30 years ago.
“The males are no longer allowed to be sold in Southern Nevada by law and the same is true of fruiting olives, but fruitless olives are still allowed,” Horticulturalist Norm Schilling explained.
Schilling said that fruitless olive trees still produce flowers, but not pollen.
As for those who already have these trees in their backyard, there is a way to maintain them so their allergies aren’t affected as much.
“You can get a high-pressured nozzle and spray water on the tree and that will reduce the pollen,” Schilling suggested.
