Indoor Air Pollution Essay

Introduction

Approximately half of the world's households depend on biomass fuel, animal dung as well as wood ("CDC - Indoor Air Quality", 2018). Evidently, the mentioned sources of energy have one characteristic in common; they all result in indoor pollution.

How do the sources of energy pollute the air?

Wood, biomass fuel, and animal dung are known for the production of particulates and carbon monoxide. Particulates and carbon monoxide are known for their pollution of the air. Since the sources are used for indoor functions, in most cases, aeration in houses is minimal. Therefore, constant use of the sources of energy results in high concentrations of particulates, carbon monoxide as well as other indoor pollutants.

How indoor pollutants affect the health and safety of infants?

In most cases, parents prefer to have their children stay indoors as they play. Considering the statistics provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is evident that more than one billion people, a large percentage who are children are exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution. The pollution exceeds by 100 times the normal and acceptable levels of indoor air pollution. Therefore, there is a need to worry about the most vulnerable people, children, who spend most of their time indoors. The children are exposed to the noxious byproducts from the processes of cooking and heating. Worrying statistics indicate that more than 500 thousand women and children under the age of 5 die due to indoor air pollution in India because more than 80& of the households depend on the use of biomass as the main source of heating and cooking functions (Fung, Bruns & Trupin, 2010).

Indoor air pollution results in upper respiratory infections which include colds, sour threats. Additionally, in the case of any respiratory infections, the pollutants will aggravate the infection. For lower respiratory infections, the indoor air pollution can cause pneumonia. In most cases, infant reports due to indoor air pollution are caused by acute respiratory infections. The world statistics indicate a death rate of 2.2 million children that are under the age of five years worldwide by lower respiratory infections that are aggravated by indoor air pollution (Fung, Bruns & Trupin, 2010).

Asthma

Asthma is another health condition associated with indoor air pollution. In this case, children who are mainly exposed to the indoor pollutants usually exhibit symptoms of recurrent attacks of breathlessness as well as wheezing ("Child Care Health Program - King County", 2018). Similarly, the disease results in high death rates affecting more than 150 million individuals worldwide.

Recommendation

How can safety be enhanced to curb indoor air pollution?

The solution to this health threat to children is embedded in health practices that parents are caregivers engage in on a daily basis. Primarily, parents and caregivers should ensure that their houses have enough windows, and ventilation. The windows and doors should be opened throughout the day to allow enough circulation of fresh air into the house. Majorly, the doors and windows should be open when handling cooking and heating activities because they generate most of the indoor air pollutants. The second solution that can help increase the health of children at homes is the need for an air purifier that has a dehumidifier. The device helps in purifying the air by filtering allergens, toxins as well as dust within the house. In this way children will be free of bacterial and fungal infections caused by the pollutants. While using the purifiers, it is necessary to turn off the ionizer when using it and it is only significant to program the ionizer to be in operation when children, parents and caregivers are out of the house.

Naturally, plants eliminate carbon dioxide from the environment while they give out oxygen. An understanding from this concept gives parents and caregivers a reason to smile because they can plant as many plats as possible in and around the house that can help purifier the air ("Child Care Health Program - King County", 2018). There are more than 50 houseplants that can assist in the removal of indoor air pollutants and gases. The most recommended plant is the peace lily as it is proven to clear all the dangerous indoor air toxins. The plant is said to help in the removal of the following:

• formaldehyde found in glues, carpets as well as adhesives;
• benzene found in plastics, synthetic fibers as well as lubricants;
• ammonia and toluene.

Summary of Teaching

While delivering the information about indoor air pollution and its effect on children to the parents, it was evident that the parent was not aware of the health hazard existing indoors. The parent that I shared the pamphlet with was a 37-year-old woman who had three children. The parent had a child who had visited the healthcare center to seek medication for her five-year-old daughter. The child had ear infections and breathing problems. A diagnosis of the patient indicated that the child was suffering from acute pneumonia and fungal infections caused by the increased indoor air pollution at home.

The interaction with the parent was conducted in a manner that the parent was asked questions regarding the amount of time her children spent indoors. The parent revealed that he preferred his two sons and daughter staying indoors because the neighborhood was not safe. The parent lived in the rental house, and this meant that children did not have a playground, except when they only went to school. Using the insight from the parent, I presented the parent with the pamphlet-above and explained the cause of the child's problem. It was clear that the parent was using biomass fuel and this was the cause of the aggravation of the pneumonia problem in her child.

Parent's Response

The parent's response to the teaching and the information in the template was surprising. In fact, the mother of three had never known that indoor air pollution could result in ear infections and aggravate pneumonia problem. The parent thought that increased cold outside and lack of keeping the house warm which he did by ensuring that some heating was done were the main cause of the aggravated pneumonia problem. For the ear infection, the parent thought that her daughter had contracted the infection from her friends that she used to play with two months back in the neighborhood.

Assessment of Teaching

Overall, the parent was a keen listener although had little knowledge of the actual danger of indoor air pollution. At first, the parent had been given the child's prescription, and some of the instructions were not clear enough. The parent did not want to show her illiteracy. However, as noted from the teaching method, it would be significant to use visual aids which would have made the teaching clear and understandable (Dickey et al., 2017). Therefore, I spend enough time with parents explaining the problem and the solutions of indoor air pollution using living room language while I use the teach-back method to assess the understanding level of the parents of the affected children.

References

CDC - Indoor Air Quality. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/airquality/default.htm

Child Care Health Program - King County. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/child-teen-health/child-care-health.aspx

Dickey, P., Chai, S., Weaver, M., Song, L., Allen, C., Takaro, T. K., & Krieger, J. (2017). The Seattle-King County Healthy Homes Project: Implementation of a comprehensive approach to improving indoor environmental quality for low-income children with asthma. In Community Research in Environmental Health (pp. 63-92). Routledge.

Fung, J., Bruns, E., & Trupin, E. (2010). Child Care Consultation Pilot Project (pp. 1-55). Washington: Washington State Department of Early Learning. Retrieved from https://del.wa.gov/sites/default/files/imported/publications/research/docs/ChildCareConsultationFinalReport2010.pdf