Infants and Indoor Air Pollution

For many new mothers, bringing a baby into the world can be an amazing, and yet terrifying, event. It can be scary due to the overwhelming amount of things that can threaten a child’s life in their first 6 months. The reason for this is that during this period of time a baby is growing and maturing very quickly. One of these parts of the body that is growing very rapidly at this time is the lungs. If you are living in a home with poor indoor air quality and have an infant, it can be very damaging to your child’s health. Records of infant mortality rates in the United States around 2005 indicate that respiratory distress in newborns is the 7th most common cause of death.

Poor indoor air quality as a result of Indoor Air Pollution has been rated one of the top five environmental dangers in regards to human health by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). This is especially the case for individuals with comprised immune systems like that of the elderly and, of course, small children. Poor Indoor Air Quality can be the result of several factors, often thanks to inadequate ventilation due to improper construction of buildings by making them air tight to achieve energy efficiency combined with chemical contaminants, also known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These can be emitted from several common household materials, such as paint or carpeting, resulting in poor IAQ . Some of the VOC’s include carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide and many others. With nitrogen dioxide for example, there have been studies conducted that have shown that exposure can cause bronchitis in asthmatic children. For developing lungs, the precursor to childhood asthma can be triggered by several factors, including poor indoor air quality. Finally, the biological contaminants that contribute to poor indoor air quality include: mold, bacteria, mildew, viruses and pollen. Moisture intrusion and stagnant water are the environments where these contaminants fester the easiest. All the above contaminants can cause poor IAQ, most of which cannot be detected by the naked eye.

What is Bad Ozone?

Sometimes we hear that ozone is good, as in the ozone layer, and sometimes we hear that ozone is bad as in air pollution or smog.  How can it be both good and bad?  This depends on where it is in the environment and how it is formed.  


This page will discuss the so called "bad ozone" or "ground level ozone".  To learn about "good ozone" by clicking on this link.  


In the Earth’s lower atmosphere, near ground level, ozone is formed when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, chemical plants, and other sources react chemically in the presence of sunlight. 


Ozone pollution is a concern during the summer months when the weather conditions needed to form ground-level ozone—lots of sun, hot temperatures—normally occur.

Ozone can irritate your respiratory system, causing you to start coughing, feel an irritation in your throat and/or experience an uncomfortable sensation in your chest. Ozone can reduce lung function and make it more difficult for you to breathe as deeply and vigorously as you normally would. 


When this happens, you may notice that breathing starts to feel uncomfortable. If you are exercising or working outdoors, you may notice that you are taking more rapid and shallow breaths than normal. 


Ozone can aggravate asthma. When ozone levels are high, more people with asthma have attacks that require a doctor’s attention or the use of additional medication. One reason this happens is that ozone makes people more sensitive to allergens, which are the most common triggers for asthma attacks. Also, asthmatics are more severely affected by the reduced lung function and irritation that ozone causes in the respiratory system. 


Ozone can inflame and damage cells that line your lungs. Within a few days, the damaged cells are replaced and the old cells are shed—much in the way your skin peels after a sunburn. 


Ozone may aggravate chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis and reduce the immune system’s ability to fight off bacterial infections in the respiratory system.

This is why ozone water treatment systems are designed to remove ozone before the vent gas is released into the environment.

Here are some additional links on ground level ozone:

Ozone and Your Health (USEPA)
Smog - Who Does it Hurt? (USEPA)
Summertime Safety: Keeping Kids Safe from Sun and Smog (USEPA)USEPA Ozone Air Quality StandardsUS Ozone Air Quality Trends


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