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Home › Articles › Home Safety › What's in the Air?

What's in the Air?

10 Ways to Protect Your Child from Air Pollution

By Laura Cone

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Elizabeth Villanova lives in Land O'Lakes, a rural area in Florida where the air seems fresh and clean and their son, Bobby, 2, plays outside without a care in the world. Unfortunately, when it comes to indoor and outdoor air pollution, it's impossible for even the most diligent parents to see the harmful substances that may be lurking in the air.

Villanova says she is concerned about air pollution. She does not expose her toddler to cigarette smoke, and she bought a new home to avoid lead-based paints, mold and mildew.

Scientists in the past several years have been looking at the effects of air pollution on infants. Some of the most startling evidence linking air pollution and infant death recently came out of research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Avoiding Cigarette Smoke
Researchers say parents today need to be careful about exposing their infants and toddlers to outdoor and indoor air pollution, even if they live in a new home. While adults and children breathe in gallons of air every day, children are especially vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs are still developing.

Researchers at UCLA say exposure to outdoor air pollution increases the likelihood an infant will die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or a respiratory-related disease. They found a link between high levels of carbon monoxide, one of the same toxins found in cigarette smoke, and infant respiratory-related deaths.

"My son has never been around cigarettes," Villanova says. "I would not choose to live in a place like New York or California. We don't go to restaurants with smokers. We were at a restaurant down the street eating dinner and we went on an outdoor patio to watch the ducks. There was a couple smoking and we decided to go back inside."

The Study
Michelle Wilhelm, an adjunct assistant professor at UCLA, says the study, "Air Pollution and Infant Death in Southern California, 1989-2000," which she co-authored with her colleague Beate Ritz, confirms previous research linking high air-pollution levels with postneonatal infant mortality.


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