I’ve written on the effects of particulate matter and IAQ before but it just keeps coming up (search this site for previous posts or see the Related Posts section below).  I guess one of the byproducts of our modern society is an increase in the “stuff” that we breathe in day after day.  Unfortunately, it’s hard on our kids, especially those suffering with childhood asthma.

Here are a couple of things you can do to reduce the effects of PM, and asthma, on your children.

First, if you suspect that your child has asthma, get them professionally diagnosed and treated.  There has been a documented increase in kids diagnosed with asthma over the past 20 years.  No one knows the cause, they just know it’s increasing.  As a parent, your best course of action is to be watchful for any signs that your child may be developing asthma and get them treatment as early as possible.

Second, if your child already suffers from asthma, make sure to follow your doctor’s advice.

Third, “know your enemy.”  Become knowledgeable about asthma by checking out the information at reliable medical sites such as The American Lung Association and the Mayo Clinic.

Fourth, take steps to improve the quality of the air inside your home by reducing the amount of particulate matter in the air.  It’s estimated that kids spend 80% of their time indoors so make sure you’ve done everything you can to assure that this time is spent in an area with good IAQ.  Some basic tips to reduce PM include:

• Make sure that you purchase good quality air conditioning filters and that you change them frequently.  No, I don’t recommend having your air ducts cleaned since this can cause more problems than it solves.  Unless you literally have dust blowing out of your AC vents, having your air ducts cleaned is not necessary.
• Reduce the amount of carpeted area in your home.  A carpet tends to trap particulate matter in the carpet fiber and then releases it back into the air when the carpet is walked on or disturbed.
• No furry pets indoors.  “Fido” and “Fluffy” will just have to sleep outside.  Pet hair, and especially pet dander, are serious allergy and asthma triggers.
• Purchase and use a good quality vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter on the exhaust.  A “HEPA” filter is a “High Efficiency Particulate Air” filter designed to trap and remove most of the particulate matter from the exhausted air.  Using a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter will assure that any dust that’s picked up stays in the vacuum instead of being exhausted right back into the room.
• Consider the purchase of a good quality air purifier for your child’s bedroom.  Make sure that you get a unit that does NOT create or release ozone, negative ions, aromatics, or anything else.
• Keep doors and windows closed to prevent dust and particulate matter from coming indoors.
• Be a careful consumer when it comes to all the “asthma preventing” attachments that are for sale for your air conditioning unit.  These include ultraviolet light (UV) attachments designed to “sterilize” the air flowing through your AC ducts to electrostatic filters that will “zap” the dust right out of the air.  These things do in fact work.  However, some of them are pretty expensive and most will only improve your overall IAQ fractionally.  You’ll have a much greater impact on the quality of your indoor by simply following the first four points (and you’ll save a bunch of money, too).

Asthma is the leading chronic illness of children in the US and is the third leading cause of child hospitalizations.  It cannot be cured but it can almost always be controlled by reducing your child’s exposure to those things that can trigger an attack.  Research is finding that particulate matter (PM), microscopic particles of dust, carbon, smoke, or soot, is one of the more significant.  The good news is that there are some simple, commonsense things you can do to protect your family from its effects.

Read the press release on the Johns Hopkins study here.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: IAQ, particulates, particulate matter, PM, indoor air quality, asthma, triggers, HEPA, air purifier, allergy

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Let me try to state things so that there’s no confusion. An air purifier does only what it’s name implies – it purifies the air that is drawn into and expelled from the unit. It does not cure or eliminate any type of ailment or disease, and any salesperson, product label, or advertisement that implies otherwise is not being honest or ethical. However, if used correctly, their use is beneficial in many situations.

Why Use an Air Purifier?

Then why do I frequently recommend them? Because in many cases, an air purifier – when used as part of a complete home IAQ program – does provide some degree of relief from allergy symptoms. Notice that I did not say it cures allergies, nor did I say that ALL of your symptoms will completely disappear. I said that they do provide some degree of relief in many cases (note that this also means that in some cases, they will not provide any type of relief at all).

Why is that? Why is it that some people will get relief from their allergies and others won’t? The answer is because Indoor Air Quality in general, and allergy in particular, is a complex issue with many causes and interconnecting factors.

The Many Causes of Allergies

There are many things in a typical home that can cause allergic symptoms in those individuals that are sensitive to them. These can include any or all of the following:

• Plant and Tree Pollens, including those from indoor plants
• Dust Mites
• Household Dust
• Mold
• Chemicals from cleaners, detergents, scented or perfumed sprays or candles
• Household pests including ants and roaches
• Pet Dander from Dogs and Cats
• Some foods, food additives and/or preservatives

In order to reduce allergic symptoms, you must have a home IAQ program in place that is consistently working to significantly reduce the levels of all of these allergens inside of your house.

Clearing the Air

Since most allergens in a typical home are airborne (you breathe them in), taking steps to clean, filter, or purify the inside air makes good sense. That’s why I recommend high efficiency air filters in your HVAC system in conjunction with the use of air purifiers. However, you also have to reduce or eliminate the source of the allergen. That includes regular cleaning with a HEPA-filtered vacuum, reducing the amount of carpeted areas, using hypoallergenic detergents and cleaners, changing bed linens often, keeping pets outdoors, and so on.

There is No Magic Bullet

Because there are so many things in a typical home that a sensitive person can be allergic to, there is no one single thing that you can do that will make all your symptoms go away. There is no “magic bullet.”

Reducing the amount of allergens in your home – and thereby reducing your allergic symptoms – takes a holistic approach and the main goal of improving IAQ. An air purifier is just one tool of several that can be used to help you accomplish this.

Hiram

The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: air purifier, allergies, allergy, Environment, Health, iaq, causes of allergies, air purifiers

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