Effects of Indoor Air Pollution in Daycares

Children’s lungs are still developing until they reach about 6-8 years of age. During this time, children’s lungs can easily be damaged by pollution or infection. Children breathe 4 times as much air per pound of body weight as adults! This means that children breathe

in more pollutants than adults.

Indoor air quality can be determined by knowing how clean the air is in our buildings. The most common cause of poor indoor air quality is lack of proper ventilation which is entering and exiting air in the building. Without air circulating in the building the pollution stays inside and builds up and create poor indoor quality. The building supplies the were used when the house was built often emut fumes that pollute our inside air.

Even art supplies like crayons, cleaning supplies like glass cleaners and every single chemicals we use daily can contribute to the poor air quality in daycares or our own houses.

The most common problem caused by breathing pollutant air is Ashtma. Since seeing the pollution in the air is not possible with naked eye once any of known signs starts developing in children in your care you should be concerned about checking for molds or mildews, temprature and the cleaning supplies used to clean the building. The signs mentioned above are:

Feeling tired

Wants to be alone

Headache

Eyes look glassy

Dark circle under the eyes
Pale stuffy nose

Lethargic

Irritable

Coughing

Wheezing

Breathing changes
The best way to improve the indoor air quality is to have a good air circulation and pay attention to the chemicals used in the supplies we use around children and read the information on products' labels carefully. Schools and daycares usually have very poor air quality and often cause intense coughing and congestion issues for kids. Hopefully by informing teachers and daycare owners we will have better air quality for children at schools and homes.