Keeping Allergic Children Healthy

If your child has allergies, asthma or other sensitivities, there’s extra parenting responsibility. Erica Reid, mother to two preteens with food and environmental sensitivities and author of The Thriving Child , shares some of her tips for keeping children safe.

Be an advocate.
Own your children’s health problems, and guide your children to do so, too. “Teach them as early as possible to live with whatever they have,” Reid says. With strong food allergies, Reid’s son, 9, doesn’t eat at friends’ houses. Her son and daughter, 11, know what questions to ask when they order for themselves in restaurants.

'School' others.
Discuss your child’s health needs with teachers. “Inform teachers on the first day of school, and if your child has more than one teacher, don’t rely on that teacher to tell the other,” Reid says. And don’t be fazed by resistance. “Some teachers ... don’t understand when I tell them my son is allergic to cold air. They think I am overreacting.” It’s the responsibility of the parent and the person taking care of the child to ensure health is taken seriously.

Know the triggers.
Always carry your child’s medications and have him wear a medical bracelet that informs others of health problems in case he can’t speak for himself.

Source: USA Weekend

Pregnant? Breathe easy.

Take small steps such as:

• Trade your scented candles or oils  for fresh flowers.
• Skip the household aerosol sprays.
• Quit smoking right away, and don't allow anyone to smoke around you.

Avoid:

• Pesticides
• Paint Fumes
• Tobacco Smoke
• Improperly Maintained Stoves
• Kerosene Heaters
• Solvents

For more Breathe Easy tips, read this article at Eco-Pregnancy and this one.

Air Pollution in the News

Air pollution continues to be a problem reported in the news. Here are some recent stories that caught our attention:

• Illinois - Air Quality Index over 100 - Examiner
• Connecticut - dangerous humid winds - Fox News
• New York - chemical fire - WYNT
• Kansas - air quality alert issued - KWCH
• Hong Kong - storm creates smog - Bloomberg

BreatheEz System

The trend toward making homes more energy efficient has resulted in many pollutants becoming trapped inside our homes. Now with the BreatheEz, you can have it all: an energy efficient, odor-free healthy home for your family and yourself.

• 100% completely safe
• Environmentally friendly—uses no chemicals
• Improves air quality by destroying airborne pollutants
• Economical—costs less to use than a 50-watt light bulb
• Leaves a fresh, clean scent throughout your home
• Virtually maintenance-free—simply wipe the bulb with an alcohol-soaked cloth twice yearly when unit is not running
• Installs out of sight in the air handler of your HVAC system in 30 minutes or less
• Labor and parts guaranteed for two years from date of installation
• 60-day No-Risk Guarantee

Power Plants Filters

Recently, power plants have come under scrutiny as their smokestacks emit an obvious source of air pollution. Some lobbyists are calling for there to be custom-made air filters put on each smoke stack, or in the workings of the factory before they reach the smoke stacks, in order to lessen the amount of waste particles emitted by the exhaust.

Read more at:
Seattle Times
Kansas City Star

BP in Pollution News Again

BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to install $400 million in new air pollution controls at its northwestern Indiana oil refinery and pay an $8 million fine under a deal with the government and environmental groups. Fox News

In a move that promises cleaner air throughout the Chicago area, BP agreed to spend more than $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at the oil company’s sprawling refinery in northwest Indiana. Boston Herald

Federal regulators had accused BP of violating a 2001 legal agreement over previous pollution problems at the Whiting plant and cited the company for repeatedly exceeding emissions limits on flares that shoot out harmful chemicals during frequent malfunctions.

Changes outlined in the consent decree, filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond, require the oil company to dramatically reduce flaring by capturing most of the pressurized gases, and to operate the flares more efficiently when they are needed. Chicago Tribune

Back in 2008 when we began this lawsuit under the Clean Air Act, BP claimed that its planned multi-billion dollar expansion of the Whiting Refinery to process dirty tar sands crude oil would cut the refinery’s air pollution. But according to our team of engineering and legal experts, BP left out huge sources of pollution within the refinery and used faulty calculations for others. If the company had done its pollution accounting properly, it would have shown major increases in air pollution and triggered the legal obligation to use state-of-the-art controls.

Four years later we’ve come full circle, with the announced settlement requiring BP to better control its pollution by installing $400 million in air pollution controls. These controls will reduce pollution from the refinery by 4,000 tons each year. National Resources Defense Council

Local and Globally, the Pollution Problem

We talk a lot of about air pollution, air purification, clean air, and how our systems help. I'm in the South Florida tri-county area (Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach), but the problem is global, as shown in these news excerpts:

• Pakistan
• Utah
• Ontario, Canada
• Jerusalem