Common elements that can alter the quality of the air in the home
Much of a child's life is spent inside the home. Whether it's sleeping, doing homework or because it's where you eat, you can not deny the time a child spends in this place. This is one of the reasons why security and cleanliness must be monitored inside the house, in order to avoid accidents in this environment and avoid bad times for the little ones.
However, there are some elements that can go unnoticed by families and that are capable of causing small problems to the little ones. This is the case of candles and some cleaning products that alter air quality, as indicated by a recent study of the University of San Diego. These articles release particles that, when inhaled by children, cause respiratory problems in them.
Respiratory complications
This entity investigated almost 300 families residing in San Diego and where at least one child younger than 14 years and a smoker. In all these environments, devices were placed to measure the level of suspended particles. Specifically, they were installed in the child's bedroom and another in an area near the place where tobacco is consumed.
Both terminals continuously analyzed the air for fine particles between 0.5 and 2.5 micrometers. This size includes suspended dust, fungal spores, automobile emissions and combustion products. This follow-up was done during three months.
The mission was to find particles of a size large enough to have an impact on human health. The largest are able to reach the lungs and generate a variety of health complications such as respiratory problems and cardiovascular.
The influence of tobacco
During the three months in which these devices transmitted information on the air quality of these households, other data obtained from two interviews were also collected. every family. In this meeting, they delved into the daily tasks that took place at home, such as cooking, cleaning and if they were near the smoking areas.
The data revealed that the households where they smoked had an average particle size that was almost double that of environments where tobacco was not consumed. In the air were found remains nicotine and other combustion products that are very dangerous for the health of children.
These last products came from lighting items such as candles or incense sticks, frying as cooking mode or spraying cleaning products also increased the number of fine particles in the air. For this reason it is recommended on the one hand No Smoking where the children will spend much of the day and always do it outside the home.
In the same way, if a candle is lit, it must ensure the ventilation of the room so that the particles can come out. While more spacious be this area better. It is also advisable to open the windows while cleaning so that the air is renewed and it is possible to ensure a good quality in what children breathe in their day to day.
"The goal of this research is, ultimately, to find effective ways to promote smoke-free homes and also to find good strategies, in general, to reduce exposure to smoke. domestic pollution"explained Neil Klepeis, another of the authors of this research.
Damián Montero
