Airborn particle hypersensitivity 2019-03-03T16:15:03Z An abnormally increased sensitivity to airborn particles. This can be diagnosed on the basis of the medical history, taking into account seasonality or a relationship to the concentration of airborn particles in the environment of the affected individual. Aerosol challenge is a gold standard of establishment of the symptom. There exist particle hypersensitivity (diesel exhaust, metals, inorganic material) vs. allergen (including pollen dander, etc) hypersensitivity. The responses are usually different and testing for allergen hypersensitivity is done in concert with serum IgE and or skin testing to the suspected allergen. Particles can be defined as any small bits of material or droplets either inorganic or organic, viable or nonviable, that can become airborne. They can range from small molecules less than 0.001 micrometer to pollens and spores ranging between 2 and 50 micrometers and very large visible dust particles in the range of 1000 micrometers. Particles can also assume many shapes including long, fibrous varieties with a length greater than three times diameter, spheres, oddly shaped or irregularly shaped material, oblong, crescent-shaped varieties, or other peculiar shapes, such as certain pollen grains and mold spores. Immunologic hypersensitivity