A Solution to Reduce the Ill Effects of Air Pollution on Children

06 Oct 2021

Protecting children from ill effects of air pollution is in the best interest of our society—it’s our duty to ensure pure and healthy air for children. Let’s explore a sustainable solution to minimize children’s exposure to air pollution.    

Air pollution is one of the biggest challenges we are facing today. As the air quality worsens due to numerous reasons, so does our overall health. People, who are exposed to the high levels of air pollution, are susceptible to experiencing several health issues like poor sleep cycle, respiratory problems, poor efficiency, to name a few!

Debilitation effects of air pollution is far greater in children. They are the most vulnerable to various health related problems due to their weak immunity as it is still in development stage. Unlike adults, children’s lungs are still not fully developed—so, they breathe in twice as fast as adults, and thereby inhale more air pollutants in comparison to their body weight. The respiratory tracks of a child’s lungs are more penetrable, making them highly susceptible to developing health problems due to the air pollution.

Air Pollution Impacts the Fetus Health:

A research article, published in the Environmental Health Perspectives titled as “Disparities in exposure to air pollution during pregnancy,” shows that the harmful pollutants in the air can adversely affect the growth of a fetus. If a pregnant mother is exposed to a high level of poor air quality, it can result in early fetal loss, preterm delivery, and lower birth weight.

The article shows that prolonged exposure to high levels of particulate matter can adversely affect the children before their birth—since their lungs are in the growing stage, the overall development is adversely impacted. 

“More than 90% of the world’s children breathe toxic air every day.” – Word Health Organization (WHO)

What are the Solutions?

So, the experts and doctors recommend that the pregnant mothers avoid exposure to air pollution as much as possible. This can be achieved by spending more time in the pollution free, green and hilly areas, with crisp and clean environment.

But this is not feasible for everyone, due to their lifestyle and busy schedule. Especially for people living in cities and large towns. So, the best option is to use HEPA air purification systems for homes to deactivate the ill effects of harmful pollutants and toxins floating in the air.

Although finding an air purifier is not a challenging job due to availability of a variety of low performance machines in the market, but making up your mind to purchase an ordinary low-cost air purifier based on flashy promotions is not the solution. One must select an efficient high quality air purification system that is efficient enough to trap 99.999% of indoor pollutants and allergens.     

PetriMed CA™ Air Purification System is an innovative machine that uses H-14 ISO 50U HEPA filter along with other advanced air filtration technologies like washable pre-filter, permanent nano-silver antibacterial layer, high-quality activated carbon + zeolite, nano-molecular sieve, ionic catalytic coating, new UV-C technology, and ionizer. It has been specifically designed for medical grade purification, which ensures a lasting impact on one’s health.

Indoor air quality varies quickly in every situation. For instance, cooking or heating with biomass in the home can lead to a speedy and momentary spike in pollution. So, in this condition, a sub-standard home air purifier for kids and parents will not have the desired effect as the system with 99.999% efficacy of air filtration.

Avoid the Use of Chemicals in Homes:

Another effective measure is to avoid using harsh chemicals—some of the household products are a common source of harmful chemicals and volatile organic compounds. These have detrimental impact as they enter through the respiratory system into the blood stream.  

Carpets and Rugs are Home to Many Allergens:

Either regular dry cleaning or removing carpets and rugs would also enable the improved indoor air quality in home. They accumulate dust, pollens, pet dander, and other allergens which are hazardous for the health of children and adults both.

Air pollution affects more than 2 billion children across the world. It is everyone’s responsibility to provide the children with a safe and healthy environment with pure and clean air, for healthy development.