Cleaner air for the little ones
Kristina Marusic, Environmental Health News
The report, published by
the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia-based nonprofit advocacy group Women for a
Healthy Environment, assessed PM2.5 — fine
particulate matter pollution that can penetrate deep in our lungs — at eight
daycare centers in Philadelphia that received air filters from the Philadelphia
Department of Public Health to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Air pollution linked to ‘huge’
rise in child asthma GP visits
Exposure to PM2.5 is linked to health effects including
asthma and other respiratory diseases, heart disease, cancer,
neurodevelopmental problems like ADHD and autism, and mental illness. Previous studies have
indicated that being exposed to PM2.5 during childhood is particularly harmful.
The study was small, but the findings were significant
because few studies have assessed indoor air quality and the use of air filters
at daycares and early learning centers, where children are particularly
vulnerable to the harmful effects of indoor air pollution. In addition to the
reduced pollution, daycare providers reported multiple benefits including less
coughing, allergies and absenteeism.
“You’ve got children as young as 6 weeks old in these spaces,” Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, executive director of Women for a Healthy Environment, told EHN. “Doing everything we can to protect these littlest ones in the earliest stages of critical development is essential.”
We often think of PM2.5 as an outdoor air pollutant
associated with traffic, industrial emissions and burning fossil fuels like
coal and oil, but outdoor pollutants that make their way inside can become
trapped indoors. There are also indoor sources of PM2.5 like gas stoves,
candles and air fresheners, pesticides and cleaning products. The average
American spends 90% of their time indoors,
so indoor air quality is an important determinant of health.
Naccarati-Chapkis said the study’s findings are also
relevant to home environments, and that she hopes the findings will inform
decisions at the national level and across Pennsylvania.
“People should know that running an air filter at home
regularly can make a huge difference in indoor air quality,” Naccarati-Chapkis
said. “Now that we know these air filtration systems are so effective at
improving indoor air quality, we’d like to work on finding resources to get
them into homes and daycare facilities that are situated near major polluters
in places like Pittsburgh, where we have more industrial point sources of
pollution than in Philadelphia.”
Less illness, better smelling air
The Philadelphia Department of Health distributed the air
filters to daycares in four environmental justice neighborhoods,
which are typically burdened with higher levels of PM2.5 pollution. They also
provided enough replacement filters to run the air filters for approximately
three years and ensured providers knew how and when to replace the filters.
“We did a lot of grassroots-level work to deliver these
air filters directly to daycares and to help these providers feel empowered to
make use of them and understand the benefits so they don’t wind up getting
stored in closets,” Tanya Dhingra, pediatric program manager at the
Philadelphia Department of Public Health, who led the air filter distribution
project, told EHN.
Women for a Healthy Environment reached out about their
indoor air study soon after the filters were distributed, Dhingra said, “and it
was perfect timing.”
The study used indoor air monitors to measure PM2.5 while
the air filters were run on their lowest setting for one week, and then on
their highest setting for one week. On average, PM2.5 levels decreased from 6
micrograms per cubic meter to 1 microgram per cubic meter when the filters were
run on their highest setting.
“It would have been unethical to ask them to stop running
the air filters entirely for the sake of the study, but we likely would have
seen an even more significant improvement in PM2.5 if we had,” Lorna Rosenberg,
the healthy buildings program manager for Women for a Healthy Environment and
leader of the study, told EHN. “Having these air filters on at the
highest setting and running continuously when children and staff are in the
space is very effective at keeping indoor air clean.”
Some daycare providers reported that coughing, sneezing,
allergies and asthma were reduced among both children and the staff, that there
was less absenteeism and that daycare centers smelled significantly better
during the weeks the filters were running on high, according to Rosenberg. As
an unexpected side benefit, Dhingra said, some also reported that the white
noise from the filters created a calmer atmosphere and helped some children
focus.
More research would be needed to quantify the benefits,
but Rosenberg emphasized that we don’t need to wait for those studies to start
protecting children.
“People often want to study and study and study some
more, but at this point we know that we have effective tools that can help keep
children healthier, like these air filters,” Rosenberg said. “At some point we
need to stop studying and start giving people the resources they need to
protect themselves.”
Women for a Healthy Environment has been sharing their
findings with local, state and federal regulators in hopes of seeing the
project replicated on a larger scale. Distributing resources like air filters
to daycares on a national scale is challenging because each state regulates and
certifies daycares and early learning centers differently. In the absence of
national programming or regulations related to indoor air quality at daycares,
initiatives like this must be done on a state-by-state basis.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Office of
Child Development and Early Learning, which enforces child care regulations,
declined to comment on Women for a Healthy Environment’s study or answer
questions about whether the agency would consider distributing air filters to
daycares throughout the state, but Brandon Cwalina, a spokesperson for the
agency, told EHN, “facilities are not prevented from installing air
filters beyond what regulations outline. DHS is committed to working on
solutions that can address environmental health considerations and that further
protect children while supporting child care providers.”
A good return on investment
Each air filter cost between $400 and $500, and Dhingra
and her team modeled their program after a similar one in Utah that found the
average annual cost to run the air filters was $15.81.
“This project really demonstrated how a health department
can provide real, tangible resources and help create healthier infrastructure,”
Dhingra said. “We think these air filters will provide a sustainable, long term
solution for improved indoor air quality.”
Improving indoor air quality is just one of many ways
that daycare and early childcare centers can create healthier environments for
children in vulnerable stages of development, according to Hester Paul,
national director of the Eco-Healthy Child Care program through
the national Children’s Environmental Health Network.
“Having quantifiable data like this study can really
empower daycare providers to realize that they can make changes and see a
meaningful difference in things like indoor air quality,” Hester told EHN.
“There are also a lot of free or low-cost things that are easy to do that can
make a big difference, including things like using certified green cleaning
supplies, switching to fragrance-free products and ensuring good ventilation.”
The Eco-Healthy Child Care program lists 35 low- or no-cost ways that
childcare centers can reduce toxic exposures for children in their care and
provides endorsements to daycare centers that complete
the program. The Children’s Environmental Health Network served as a
partner in Women for a Healthy Environment’s air quality study, and Rosenberg
helped each of the daycares that participated go through the program and get
their endorsement.
“I hope we can elevate this project and this study to the attention of the federal government and create additional resources for reducing harmful indoor air pollution exposures among young children, especially in environmental justice communities,” Hester said.
Kristina Marusic covers environmental
health and justice issues in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania for
Environmental Health News. Her new book, "A New
War On Cancer: The Unlikely Heroes Revolutionizing Prevention,"
uncovers an emerging national movement to prevent cancer by reducing our
exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in our everyday lives.
