Do you have a new baby or small child in your home?  Are you aware that several different researchers have discovered a correlation between respiratory illness, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and air pollution?  Did you know that scientists and health care professionals’ consistently rank indoor air pollution among the top environmental health risks in the United States?

The August 2006 issue of the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that researchers in California have recently found another link between air pollution and respiratory illness and death in infants.  Research showed that infants recently exposed to high levels of air pollution were likely to become ill or die and that they faced a somewhat higher likelihood of dying from SIDS.  Study co-author Michelle Wilhelm, an adjunct assistant professor of epidemiology at UCLA, reflected that "It just adds to the body of evidence showing that exposure to high (levels) of air pollution can lead to infant death."  The research also showed that pollutants inhaled by pregnant mothers can reach fetuses via the umbilical cord.

According to the Environmental Working Group, nearly one in every five SIDS cases in major metropolitan areas is associated with airborne particle pollution.  There is a substantial body of evidence showing that short-term increases of particulate air pollution, even at exposure levels below the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, increase mortality and morbidity rates.  Data from historic air pollution episodes in London during the 1950’s and in Mexico City during the 1990’s led to acute increases in infant mortality.

Another study by scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Basel in Switzerland revealed that almost 3,000 infant deaths per year in the United States may be the result of microscopic airborne particles.  The study also concluded that as particulate matter in the air increased, infant mortality rates rose between ten to forty percent.  The researchers at UCLA warn parents to be careful about exposing infants and young children to both indoor and outdoor air pollution.  They caution that while we breathe in gallons of air each day, infants and children are particularly vulnerable to ambient air pollution because their lungs and immune systems are not fully developed and the lungs have a small capacity.

The link between air pollution and infant death has caught the attention of government officials.  Just recently, the District of Columbia joined thirteen other states in suing the EPA to strengthen the restrictions on the amount of pollution released into the air.  The states complain that the EPA has ignored scientific evidence and the advice of its own experts about illness and premature death caused by microscopic air pollution, also known as fine particulate matter.  The EPA’s own analysis revealed that even a relatively small reduction in yearly fine particulate matter emissions could reduce chronic respiratory illnesses and prevent thousands of deaths in the United States each year.

The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development research has found that more babies survive when the air around them is clean.  Although there is still some debate as to how much air pollution actually causes specific diseases in adults, scientists agree that people who live in places with polluted air are likely to have more health problems.

Did you know that most people spend over ninety percent of their time indoors?!  Being inside doesn’t make you safer.  Although many individuals feel safe from air pollution when they are indoors, pollutant levels of indoor air may be two to five times higher than outdoor air according to the EPA.

You can protect the health of infants, toddlers and everyone in your home with Airpura residential air purifiers.  The Airpura features an innovative round filter design that is similar to the latest cartridge filter used in high powered industrial air cleaners.  The Airpura uses a smartly designed 3 stage filtration system to remove airborne contaminates from your home.  The Airpura’s true HEPA filter traps particles 0.3um and larger.  Even smaller gaseous particles are absorbed by its hefty 18 pounds of activated carbon.  

For even more protection, the Airpura UV offers the same features of the standard unit, along with a high output germicidal UV.  This advanced home air purifier captures germs and bacteria and kills them on contact.  

Polluted air is a major concern for all of us; it is especially alarming when infants and young children are involved.  Give them clean, fresh smelling air with the Airpura home air purifier.