How Indoor Air Quality Can Affect your Child’s Health

Did you know that research shows that exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of severe respiratory illnesses? These can include issues such as chronic bronchitis and asthma in young children, and may cause headaches, drowsiness, or concentration loss, which can affect school performance. For babies with less adapted immune systems, and those that are at a crucial developmental age, poor air quality can bring about potential long-term issues.

Air Pollution Limits Lung Growth in Children

Research has found that those who grew up in more polluted areas face the increased risk of having reduced lung growth, which may never recover to their full capacity. The average drop in lung function was similar to the impact of growing up in a home with parents who smoked.

Trigger for Asthma and Allergies

Most allergies, and even potentially lethal ones like asthma, can take root in your child’s system due to excessive exposure to allergens in such an atmosphere. If you are allergic to an otherwise harmless (but annoying) substance like sand or dust, you might be able to trace your discomfort back to an unpleasant experience with that substance. A dusty trip back from school right before a thunderstorm began, maybe? Such experiences usually trigger allergies.

Childhood Cancers and Increased Risk for Future Problems

Not only can your children be at an increased risk for childhood cancers from carcinogens in polluted indoor air, their chances of getting cardiovascular disorders in the future can also increase. When there’s a harmful substance in the outdoor air, there’s a 1% chance that you might be the one who ends up inhaling it. But when it’s in your indoor atmosphere, the same chances increase several-fold.