Here’s the bad news: it’s not just dust and mold that could haunt your home when you get out the Christmas tree. You could actually bring pollen into your home with your tree, especially if you are a Texas resident.

Apparently, Mountain Cedar evergreens (more common in the Lonestar state) release their pollen in December. As a result, people allergic to tree pollens could be in trouble.

The risk is highest for those individuals who like to go out into the back woods and cut down their own tree. Most large chains and retail outlets will tend to carry the more popular Scotch pines and Douglas firs. Fortunately, not every evergreen is winter-pollinating.

Allergy shots can be another option. Allergy shots will protect you from cedar pollen wherever you encounter it. Given that the pollinating season continues from December to mid-February, your potential for exposure continues for a long enough period that tackling those symptoms with a long-term solution can be a much better approach.

Standard allergic treatments are also a possibility, including antihistamines, steroid inhalers and avoiding the outdoors during the high pollen periods from 10 am to 4 pm. The success of such methods depends on the severity of your allergies. Of course, these strategies will not work if you’ve brought the source of your allergen into your home!

You aren’t necessarily off the hook if you get an artificial tree. If you have mold and dust allergies, any tree can get you. Mold is a particularly common allergy. Getting rid of the mold will mean strong chemical fungicides all over your tree. In this case, an artificial tree can be the preferred choice.

This still doesn’t prevent allergens from taking up residence in your family room. Artificial trees will spend months stored, out of the way, in your home. While in storage, they are likely to accumulate dust – and may even pick up a few mold spores, depending on their storage location. Experts suggest that you take your artificial tree outside and wipe it down before setting it up.

At Be Allergy Wise, if your artificial tree is good quality (and isn’t prone to losing its needles), we suggest vacuuming the pieces of the tree rather than wiping down. Wiping down can leave the artificial tree damp and when you bring it back into the house, any remaining mold spores will have all that’s required to spring into action: water and warmth.

Sources: News 8 Austin, UPI and reporting from Be Allergy Wise