Breathe Healthy Air in the One Place You Can Control

At least 186 million Americans’ health are in danger from polluted air according to a report issued last month by the American Lung Association.

In fact, “ 60 Percent of Americans Live In Areas Where Air is Dirty Enough to Endanger Lives.”

This is especially bad news for those with respiratory conditions like asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. Some research shows that this level of air pollution also increases risk of heart attacks and strokes.

So it behooves us to ensure that we get clean air in the on place we can control – inside our homes. If you have young children, work at home or are older (lungs have reduced capacity with age) or have respiratory or allergy problems take action.

With the affordable, newer whole home air cleaning systems, you can avoid time-consuming and messy maintenance (just 1 – 2 filter changes a year for a total of no more than 10 minutes). More importantly, unlike room-only air cleaners (who lives in a closed room after all?) and the older air cleaning units, you can now get a continuously high-performing system bolted right onto your hvac system. I recommend a new, non-metallic (no rust, etc.) technology that cam out about 4 years ago called AspenAir Inside.

The key is to remove the tiny, airborne particles that go deep into the lungs, the so-called RSPs.

BTW, “Visalia and Fresno, two mid-size towns in central California ranked high for short-term and year-round particle pollution. Birmingham, Ala., and Cincinnati were listed in the top 10 of metro areas with unhealthy levels of year-round particle pollution. In the Southwest, the Houston, Dallas and Phoenix metro areas had high ozone levels.

The Downside of Scented Candles at Home

They probably smell wonderful and look elegant, “but because many contain a high concentration of oils, they can cause soot deposits throughout your home.”

The Air Study That “Stunned” Researchers

Researchers comparing air quality in six U.S. cities were “stunned” to learn “that people living in cities with the dirtiest air died on average two years earlier than residents of cities with the cleanest air. The difference in death rates was linked to elevated levels of fine-particle pollution.”

The tiniest air-born pollution particles are the most dangerous

Lung diseases like cancer, emphysema, fibrosis, and asthma are almost all initiated or aggravated by the inhalation of particles and gases, reports Joseph Brain, Drinker professor of environmental physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

Children are the most vulnerable

The smallest air-borne particles are the ones that our lungs are least able to defend against. Infants and children are especially vulnerable. To describe the difference in an unforgettable way, imagine this scene, according to Rick Rogers, senior research scientist at HSPH:

“If a mom and her seven-year-old at a bus stop, stand in the wake of a departing bus’ burst of diesel exhaust, the child’s lungs will take in two and a half times the dose of particles as the mother’s. That startling effect is because of differences in surface to lung volume, metabolic rate, and activity.

Of course, any air pollution in the home will also have a much greater effect on children.

Fine particles in the air cause lung problems and heart attacks.

15 years into the six-city study researchers were surprised again. People were losing lung function, but what was killing them were cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and dysrhythmias. And it was fine particles from power plants and other combustion sources such as automobiles and home heating that showed the strongest associations with these deaths. This study is the most cited air-pollution paper in existence.


Prevent your children from losing lung capacity as they age.

The fine-particle lung damage to children worsens their lungs as they age. At first these fine particles cause “only” a small, yet permanent reduction in lung function. That's not so bad when they are young and have plenty of reserve lung capacity. But as they age, they will lose about 1 percent of their lung function per year (1.5 percent for smokers). After 50 years, in their early seventies, that’s a 50 percent reduction in lung capacity (75 percent in smokers).

Hint: It is never too soon to make the air cleaner where you have control over it – in your home. Look for air cleaning systems that also capture the most dangerous airborne particles – the tiniest ones.

Got a Dog? Your Kids May Snore Later ...

If your child has any of these experiences she is more likely to snore as an adult:

• Being hospitalized for a respiratory infection before the age of two years.
• Suffering from recurrent ear infections as a child.
• Growing up in a large family.
• Being exposed to a dog at home.

What can you do? If you don’t give away your dear pet (a wrenching thought) - or even if you do - then you could make the air at home much cleaner.

So found Karl A Franklin from University Hospital Umea, Sweden. His research was published in August, 2008, in BioMed Central's open access journal Respiratory Research.

Why the Old and Young Need Fish Oil

Finally some good news about a low-cost way to reduce the risk of some chronic ailments.

Take more fish oil supplements.

Researchers found that it helps even more than soy oil. Fish oil is rich in Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The ailments it alleviates include arthritis, cancer, heart disease and even memory loss.

It also helps protect your heart against certain damaging effects of air pollution. This is great news for us all but especially for parents of young children and for those who care for their elderly parents.

Many Moms (perhaps you?) are juggling their busy lives, doing both. At least this is a relatively quick and inexpensive thing to give the ones you love – and yourself.

Read more about the study. I found it via a great group of dedicated moms in Utah. Thanks!

What’s the Asthma Capital for 2008?

What city is most likely to trigger an asthma attack? Statistically speaking it is Knoxville, a distinction it was unfortunate to win in 2004 and 2007 as well. Some of the reasons for this dirty award are, “higher than average annual pollen levels, high air pollution, lack of “100% smoke-free” laws and patient over-use of asthma rescue medications.”

The good news in announcing such designations is that the media is more likely to cover the growing problem of asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems.

Oh yes, here are the other cities that were “honored”:

2. Tulsa, OK
3. Milwaukee, WI
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Memphis, TN
6. Allentown, PA
7. Charlotte, NC
8. Greenville, SC
9. St. Louis, MO
10. Greensboro, NC

Notice how many are in the south.

See this slide show of the “worst asthma cities.”

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America based the rankings on 12 factors in three groups:
• Prevalence Factors – morbidity and mortality statistics
• Risk Factors – air quality, pollen, "100% smoke-free" laws, poverty and more
• Medical Factors – medication usage and access to specialists

Now to the good news….
Least 10 Challenging Asthma Capitals:
The following cities are among the 100 cities in the US with the highest population. However, among those 100 cities, these are the ten that ranked the lowest overall in the prevalence, risk, and medical factors.

1. Sarasota, FL
2. Seattle, WA
3. West Palm Beach, FL
4. Spokane, WA
5. Melbourne, FL
6. Fort Myers, FL
7. Daytona Beach, FL
8. Minneapolis, MN
9. San Francisco, CA
10. Colorado Springs, CO

Notice that half are located in Florida.

Safer, Cheaper Ways to Clean Your Home

Pollutants inside your home can be from two to more than 100 times higher than outdoors, according to the U.S. EPA. Big culprits are the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that evaporate, or "offgas," from home decorating and cleaning products.

One problem are so-called air fresheners. In homes where aerosol sprays and air fresheners were used frequently, mothers experienced 25 percent more headaches and were 19 percent more likely to suffer from depression, and infants under six months of age had 30 percent more ear infections and 22 percent higher incidence of diarrhea, according to a study published in New Scientist.

Beware when you shop for somethingsafer. "Just because a product says it's natural doesn't mean it's nontoxic," says Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of Seventh Generation. I am a fan of his company’s eco-friendly cleaning supplies and household products. Hollender advises that the word "natural" is undefined and unregulated by the government and can be applied to just about anything under the sun -- including plastic, which comes from naturally occurring petroleum.

Because no standards exist, claims such as "nontoxic," "eco-safe," and "environmentally friendly" are also meaningless, according to Consumers Reports' Eco-labels.

David Steinman, co-author of The Safe Shopper's Bible, recommends looking at labels for specific, eco-friendly ingredients that also perform effectively. These include grain alcohol instead of toxic butyl cellosolve as a solvent; coconut or other plant oils rather than petroleum in detergents; and plant-oil disinfectants such as eucalyptus, rosemary, or sage, rather than triclosan.

Or mix your own cleaners, as does Annie Berthold-Bond, green living editor at Care2.com and author of Clean and Green and Better Basics for the Home.

Exhaust From Heavy Traffic Lowers Your Child’s IQ

Children have lower IQs when they live in neighborhoods with heavy traffic pollution. They also score worse on other tests of intelligence and memory than children who breathe cleaner air. So reported Shakira Franco Suglia of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston in February, 2008.

The effect of pollution on intelligence was potent. Suglia found was similar to that seen in children:
• whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant
or
• who have been exposed to lead.

One polluting chemical was especially damaging. Black carbon. It’s in automobile and truck exhaust, particularly by diesel vehicles. The more heavily exposed children were to black carbon the lower were their scores on several intelligence tests.

Even when the researchers adjusted for the effects of parents' education, language spoken at home, birth weight, and exposure to tobacco smoke, the association remained.

Heavy exposure to black carbon was linked to a 3.4-point drop in IQ, on average and lower scores on tests of vocabulary, memory and learning.

Read “Air pollution smothers kids” – covering a study reported in the July,2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine,

You may not be able to do much shield your child from outdoor pollution other than moving or avoiding areas with traffic areas, but you can take steps to make the air healthy throughout your home.

Stress Worsens Your Allergies in Ways Traditional Treatments Don’t Help

If you're allergic, stress and anxiety are a bad combination," reports Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, Ohio State University Medical Center. When one gets upset allergies get worse – and continue to worsen the next day.

Kiecolt-Glaser concluded, "This is clinically important for patients since most of what we do to treat allergies is to take antihistimines to control the symptoms runny nose, watery, itchy eyes, and congestion.”

"Antihistimines don't deal with those symptoms on the next day."

People may be setting themselves up to have more persistent problems by being stressed and anxious when allergy attacks begin," Kiecolt-Glaser said. Pratanu Banerjee agrees and so does Debra Fulghum Bruce, PhD.

Do Any of These Situations Sound Familiar to You?

• Cindy heard her eight-year son wheezing again. Despite ripping out the wall-to-wall carpets and following the other suggested steps for asthma sufferers, Cindy was worried. His attacks were getting worse. She wouldn’t wait any longer to take a whole home approach to removing allergy-inducing pollutants from her air.

• Diane and Nikolas love their home and community so they decided to “age in place”, making changes in their home like grab bars by the bathtub and an air cleaner.

• After renovating their home to make it more energy-efficient, Don and Marguerita noticed they were sniffling more. Perhaps their now well-sealed home is trapping more polluted air inside.

• Allen was delighted when his employer agreed to his working at home. No more long commutes. Instead he got adult-onset asthma.

• Alisa uses non-toxic products. Her appliances are Energy Star efficient. Even before home sales stalled she chose to match her “green” passion with her work. She became an Ecobroker. Her natural next step? Encourage clients to get healthier air in their homes.

• Rocco and Celia decided to move from the suburbs into new condo building in the center of more cultural opportunities downtown. Yes, there was more traffic and pollution, but their new condo building came with a special amenity that mattered more to them than a fancy stove – an air cleaning system that kept the air inside cleaner than fresh air.

• Arne quit smoking 20 years ago. After retiring, he dove into an online business he loved, spending long hours at the computer. Yet he was sniffling, sneezing and getting colds more often.

• Building homes to green standards not only felt good to Polly and Jackson, it also gave homebuyers an extra reason to choose their homes, especially if buyers had children. Or if anyone in the family was health-conscious or vulnerable to respiratory problems. Adding a high-efficiency home air cleaner was the “new” green feature that helped their homes stand out from others.

• When he got transferred, Bart brought Lady, his golden retriever. He also took his allergy. Bart couldn’t abandon a dear friend, but he could reduce the dander in his home.

In each situation, healthier air at home did or could make a life-saving difference.
(Is the air in your home making you sick?)