Most children under 24 months old spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, where research proves the air can be two to five times more contaminated than it is outdoors, says Alan Greene, MD, a pediatrician with a special interest in children’s environmental health and the author of Raising Baby Green.
Dirt accumulates indoors for a few reasons:
- Black carbon from street traffic can seep inside and get trapped, making it difficult for kids to breathe, says New York’s Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH). What’s more, tiny airborne particles known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or as we like to call them “little floaties” originating indoors and also on what we bring into our homes can be very dangerous to a child’s health, upping the risk of cancer and asthma. Then there are the toxins being released into the air from sources like building materials, household furnishings and cleaning products. All of these tiny chemical particles irritate human respiratory track and lungs, especially our tiniest humans.
Here’s three ways to make your indoor air healthier for your baby.
- Ventilate.
As long as the outside air quality is good (check it at airnow.gov), ventilation can help. When weather permits, open windows, in your child’s room, in main living spaces and anywhere your family spends time, Greene suggests. Running exhaust fans like kitchen and bathroom fans as well as basement ventilation, like an EZ Breathe Ventilation System that exhaust to the outdoors helps send indoor contaminants packing and creates healthier indoor air quality.
- Put a stop to “little floaties” in the air (tiny airborne particles known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs)
When cooking, always use a range hood or stove fan and be sure not to burn, char or blacken food. Ditch the scented candles and incense; instead, use natural herbs and essential oils to freshen the air. Frequently wet-mopping floors and vacuuming carpets (preferably using a vacuum with a HEPA filter) can help eliminate “little floaties” that can attach themselves to dust.
- Kick the habit
Never light up a cigarette (or allow anyone else to!) inside your house or anywhere near your child. And remember that third-hand smoke can cling to your hair and clothes, so it’s really best not to puff at all.
We are a 2nd generation family owned and operated business that has been working in homes with basements and crawl spaces for over 35 years. We have been waterproofing and sealing about 500 foundations a month during that time as the largest Waterproofing contractor in the Midwest with 15 locations servicing 8 states.
20 years ago we would seal a foundation and recommend a standard dehumidifier to address the additional water vapor (humidity in the air) inherently found in below grade environments, such as basements and crawlspaces. Back then, dehumidifiers were the industry standard to help with this problem. However, many of our customers were looking to us as the “foundation expert”, asking…
“What else do you have? I really am not getting results with this messy, expensive dehumidifier. My foundation is dry, walls are dry, floor is dry, so why does it still smell and feel like a basement?”
We needed to find something better. Our company’s core values include offering world class customer service to every customer, every time. So, we challenged our Research and Development department to find a real solution for our customers to combat not only the moisture, but also the odors, pollutants and unhealthy environment our customers were concerned about. We found, tested and installed a ventilation product for a period of three years. We private labeled that product as the EZ Breathe Ventilation System. The feedback in those first three years from our customers, as well as our installation crews, did not live up to the standard of quality to be included in our waterproofing process that offered a life time warranty. Once again, we needed something better.
We valued not only the results, but what we were learning from our customers. So, we went back to the drawing board, took matters into our own hands and made quality improvements to that first generation ventilation unit.
Our own EZ Breathe Ventilation System was born…reengineered, redesigned and much improved! We quickly learned that our crews were thrilled with the quality improvements, ease of operation and installation, but more importantly, our waterproofing customers loved the new, improved EZ Breathe unit as well.
Their feedback told us the air in their basements and crawlspaces felt better, but their entire home was benefiting from their EZ Breathe as well. We received countless letters thanking us because their whole house felt different, less odors, fresher air upstairs too, family members were feeling better, needing less allergy medicine, husbands were no longer snoring, children were no longer coughing as much, the home and it’s family were living healthier lives!
It was time for us to move beyond simply offering this innovative technology to just our waterproofing customers. Our passion and commitment to helping people improve their indoor air environments is what drove us to incorporate EZ Breathe Ventilation Systems as an independent company in 2003. We strongly believe that homeowners everywhere deserve a healthy indoor air quality.
We have spent the last 15 years dedicated to learning about the relationship between our home and our health; indoor air quality, the home as a system, building science and how it relates to indoor air quality as well as the challenges our modern day practices pose to the quality of air we breathe in our homes.