Guard Against Asthma in Children: Making Your Home Pollution-Free

Today is World Asthma Day, a day set aside to bring about awareness of this illness to the general population. According to The Nation’s Health, 25 million Americans live with asthma – more than 7 million of those people are children. According to an assessment of asthma in children published earlier this year, asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization for young people under age 18.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition that obstructs the airway, creating what could become serious, lifetime breathing difficulties. Because their lungs are still growing, children can be extremely susceptible to asthma by simply breathing poor air. Triggers such as cigarette smoke, allergens, or pollution can create permanent lung damage in children whose lungs are still developing.

While it may seem reasonable to think that outdoor air quality is the prime cause of asthma and asthma-related concerns, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that indoor air quality is actually a larger contributor of respiratory distress, especially for children. The home environment often provides the worst breathing atmosphere for youth because of poor ventilation, second-hand cigarette or cigar smoke, pet dander, dust mites, mold, and cockroaches or other such pests. Furthermore, people living in low-income areas often cannot properly afford mechanisms that control for such indoor pollutants and are at a far greater risk of asthma than their higher income counterparts.

In 2010, a National Asthma Survey found that the current U.S. Asthma Guidelines, which focus on methods to prevent, reduce or eliminate asthma triggers in the home, were not well known among the general population. The guidelines list several indoor air pollutants that could have a poor and long-lasting effect on lung health, especially for children. Below is a brief list with suggested resolutions, some of which are common-sense solutions.

• Radon: Estimated to contribute to between 7,000 and 30,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Smokers are at higher risk of developing radon-induced lung cancer than those who do not smoke.
• Resolution: Install a radon detector. Safe radon levels should be less than 4 pCi/L. Detectors are cheap and readily available at various local stores.
• Tobacco Smoke (cigarettes or cigars): Causes eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches; lung cancer; may contribute to heart disease. This causes an increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and ear infections; a build-up of fluid in the middle ear; increased severity and frequency of asthma episodes; and decreased lung function. All of these symptoms are worse in children who breath tobacco-filled air.
• Resolution: Quit smoking altogether. Or, do not smoke inside your home or permit others to do so; do not smoke when children are present, particularly infants and toddlers. If you must smoke indoors, have proper ventilation, use exhaust fans or open windows.
• Biological Concerns (new carpeting, paint, flooring, pets, and poorly maintained humidifiers, dehumidifiers or air conditioners): Causes eye, nose, and throat irritation; shortness of breath; dizziness; lethargy; fever; and digestive problems. Can cause asthma; humidifier fever; influenza and other infectious diseases.
• Resolution: Install and use fans to ventilate the areas; use dehumidifiers, if necessary; keep air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and humidifiers properly maintained for effective functioning.
• Carbon Monoxide: At low concentrations, this pollutant can cause fatigue in healthy people and chest pain in people with heart disease. At higher concentrations, it can impair vision and coordination, cause headaches, dizziness, confusion, and nausea. Carbon Monoxide can be fatal at extreme concentrations.
• Resolution: Keep all gas appliances properly adjusted, install and use exhaust fans, open flues when using fireplaces, and do not idle the car inside a closed garage.
• Pesticides: This element can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat; and cause serious damage to the central nervous system and kidney while increasing the risk of cancer. Children are especially susceptible to lung disorders from inhaling pesticides.
• Resolution: Use all pesticide products according to manufacturer’s directions, do not store them inside your home, keep them in ventilated areas, and do not spray them inside without appropriate ventilation in place.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission regularly maintains a list of health concerns associated with indoor air pollutants – many of which cause asthma. You can find the complete list at: www.cpsc.gov.

  

Interesting Asthma Facts:

1. More than 200 different agents have been identified in a wide range of work environments as possible asthma triggers, and this list is growing.
2. Asthma prevalence is highest among blacks.
3. The highest prevalence of asthma can be found in Rhode Island.
4. The lowest prevalence of asthma is in Florida.
5. In childhood, more males than females have asthma. In the teen years, this shifts to more females than males with asthma.
6. Women account for two-thirds of the U.S. asthma deaths.
7. 1.6 million people seek emergency care from asthma or asthma-related problems.
8. Most fatal asthma attacks do not occur in a hospital.
9. 95% of children with persistent asthma still have symptoms into adulthood.
10. Since dust mites have very sticky feet that make it difficult to vacuum them up, you are better off with wood, tile or vinyl flooring than with carpeting.