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This is the first of a series of articles full of useful tips to help relieve your child’s allergies.
Part 1: Clear the Air In Your Home
Air quality inside many homes is often even worse than outside. The average home contains toxic fumes from gas stoves or heating, varnishes, carpeting, plastics, perfumes, air fresheners, household cleaners, disinfectants and chlorinated water, all of which can cause respiratory and nasal allergies, especially in children, whose nasal and respiratory passages are smaller and not fully matured. Mold can also cause a range of troublesome, often serious reactions, including decline in mental function, chronic flu-like symptoms, or neurological problems. Cigarette smoke increases risk of childhood asthma, sensitizes children to airborne allergens like cat dander and dust mites, and also leads to food allergies (study by Swedish Karolinska Institute published in medical journal, Thorax).
Irritants from outside such as pollen and pollutants and irritants from outside get inside the home, carried on our hair, clothing, shoes, or pets. Environmental pollutants such as traffic exhaust and pesticides used by most city councils come in through our windows and doors. Germany’s Helmholtz Research Centre for Environment and Healthpublished in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, June 15, 2008). found that children living less than 50 metres from a major road had a 50% higher risk of allergies, eczema and allergies than children living farther away (
All these irritants can be trapped inside the home, leading to higher, more harmful concentrations and poor air quality. No wonder so many children are affected!
To clear the air in your home, you can:
- Get an air purifier (such as the HEPA filter) to filter out airborne allergens.
- Avoid chemical cleaners, including many so-called ‘green cleaners’, and use white vinegar and baking soda instead. With a little muscle, they serve the purpose very well.
- Reduce dust collectors in your home – Furry toys, frills, cushions, carpeting, fancy drapery and too much clutter are dust traps. Get rid of them or keep them to minimum, especially in bedrooms. Wash curtains and bedding weekly in hot water. Dust and vaccum weekly (being careful not to stir up dust).
- Get a chlorine filter on showerhead or bath taps. When heated, chlorine releases toxic fumes, and easily enters through the skin.
- Filter pollutants from heavy nearby traffic with a high hedge of low-allergen shrubs or lots of trees.
- Leave outer clothing and shoes outside the door when entering the house, and wipe down pets before they enter, especially in pollen season.
- Don’t use plastics, kitchenware, toys, or furnishings that have a noticeable smell. The smell means the item is releasing fumes, carrying chemical molecules into the air where your family breathes them in.
In part 2, you get practical tips to detoxify your child and your child’s environment. Toxins are a major cause of allergies and other diseases.
