Just wanted to share this interesting article regarding autism. The increase in problems such as autism, asthma, and cancer certainly is something we all must become aware of.............

Autism's Rise May Reflect Broader Definition, Better Diagnosis

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter 4 minutes ago

SUNDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- How widespread is autism? And is the condition, which centers on characteristics such as the inability to form personal relationships, being properly diagnosed?

New York City-based YAI-National Institute for People With Disabilities (YAI-NIPD) is a not-for-profit organization that not only assists families who have members with a variety of developmental disabilities, but also holds a series of conferences that highlight the latest research into specific conditions.

Earlier in May, YAI-NIPD held an autism conference that addressed the apparent increase in autism cases. One reason may be a broader definition of autism, said Dr. David Kaufman, medical director of Premier Healthcare, a Manhattan organization specializing in disability services.

"The estimate was one child in 166, made by the epidemiology unit of the National Institutes of Health," Kaufman said. "Now it is down to one in 150. I think that since the definition has been broadened, a lot of children are getting diagnosed who are at the milder end of the spectrum.

The cause of autism remains unclear, Kaufman said. "I believe that there is something in these children that predisposes them to autism and maybe something that triggers it, perhaps a viral illness, like children who get diabetes at an early age."

Whatever the cause, "the best treatment so far is diagnosing it early on and intervening early on, sometimes with medications," Kaufman said. "There is a broad array of early intervention services."

When a child's mysteriously detached behavior arouses parents suspicions, "the first line of defense is with the pediatrician," he said. "The child can be referred to a developmental pediatrician or pediatric neurologist or specialist who will do an evaluation and then send the child to a speech therapist, a language therapist or another therapist for treatment. The earlier you intervene, the better children do."

Financial help is often available from state governments, but "each state has different funding lines," Kaufman noted.

Children's basic medical needs should not be overlooked, Kaufman said. "Their medical needs are the same as anyone else, but it is harder to get at them," he said. "Once they get to age 2 or 4, they are able to tell the doctor what is wrong with them, but they are not as cooperative as another child might be."

Although there is a long way to go, "One thing that is being done right is an increased awareness of autism," said Dr. Eric Hollander, professor and chairman of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "It has become a priority funding issue for the National Institutes of Health. There are findings that directly impact on treatment and also can lead to a better understanding of the underlying causes."

One area that clearly has been neglected is autism in adults, Hollander said. "The high school or college population, the need for residential care is also there. Child psychiatrists and pediatricians will not necessarily be treating these individuals when they get older.

"And those who work with the older population don't have enough training. We need to know a lot more about intervention with medication, how it alters outcome, the repetitive behavior, the rigid behavior, and also new treatments for disruptive behavior."

What causes autism? Attention is being focused on oxytocin, a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, Hollander said. It appears to play a role in social behavior and repetitive behavior. "Now we are starting to have a certain impact on symptoms by administering oxytocin in various forms, such as intravenously."

Attention also is being paid to environmental and genetic factors, Hollander said, "things in the environment that influence what genes are turned on and turned off. We need to know a lot more about environmental factors and how they play a role in some people with autism."

One indicator of how much remains to be learned is the widely differing rates of diagnosis of autism from state to state, Hollander said, but that is just part of the picture. "We don't have predictors of which individuals will respond to which kinds of treatment," he said, but ended on a hopeful note: "With additional funding, there will be more rapid breakthroughs."

Dr. Steven Lowe, the medical director of YAI-NIPD, added that autism treatment still is often a struggle. "It's a challenge, because so little work has been done in the management of patients with autism and also in mental retardation and developmental disabilities," he said. "There has been very limited work on management of such patients in the primary care area and very limited research. There is limited interest for primary health-care practitioners, because it is such a daunting prospect."

But there is impetus for progress from "parents and other caregivers and the media," Lowe said. "Among them, the issue of autism is better recognized, and it is less of a stigma. People with autism are becoming more visible. Caregivers are advocating for better access to the same sort of health care that disabled people are getting.

"There is a tremendous lack of formalized training in medicine appropriate to this patient population," Lowe added. "But there are providers out there -- institutions like our own take care of patients with mental disabilities, mainly through on-the-job training."

For families facing a problem, "my recommendation is to find a place that specializes in this patient population," Lowe said. "Look for a multidisciplinary system where everyone is comfortable with mental retardation or developmental disabilities such as autism. You need a large group of clinicians in various fields, the kind of team approach that has proven to be very effective."

Then there is the influence of other elements, such as diet. Dr. Joseph Levy, a pediatric gastroenterologist who is professor of pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine, offers a theory that developmental disability is often literally a gut issue.

"There are a whole host of anecdotal reports about how particular diets have enabled children to make progress," Levy said. "Sooner or later, every parent will focus on the dimension of nutrition of child care and will experiment with it. For example, if there is aggressive or self-injurious behavior, the explanation is that the child has reflux irritation or difficulty with bowel movements."

The problem is that parental concentration on dietary factors means that they "sometimes are committed to thinking that autism is the manifestation of a leaky gut," Levy said. "But we don't know whether it is proven that autism is really a disease that affects the immune system in the gut, with toxins that are absorbed from the intestines."

It is necessary to work with nutritionists to be sure that children with autism get the proper micronutrients, but "autism is not one diagnosis, and this can put parents to great restrictions and might even be harmful," Levy said. "We do have to move forward the science that enables us to understand what is going on in the gut of the child, but we must do that without a preset ideology."

More information

There's more on autism at Autism Speaks.

Pesticides and Child Safety

Subject: EPA states/ 69.000 children involved in common household poisonings...read this!

Pesticides: Topical & Chemical Fact Sheets Recent Additions | Contact Us | Print Version Search: EPA Home > Pesticides > About Pesticides > Fact Sheets > Health and Safety Fact Sheets > Pesticides and Child Safety

Pesticides and Child Safety (read GENERAL FIRST AID GUIDELINES at the end of the article!) Although pesticides can be beneficial to society, they can be dangerous if used carelessly or if they are not stored properly and out of the reach of children. According to data collected from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, in 2002 alone, an estimated 69,000 children were involved in common household pesticide-related poisonings1 or exposures2 in the United States. An additional 26,338 children were exposed to or poisoned by household chlorine bleach. A survey by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding pesticides used in and around the home revealed some significant findings: Almost half -- 47% -- of all households with children under the age of five had at least one pesticide stored in an unlocked cabinet, less than 4 feet off the ground (i.e., within the reach of children). Approximately 75% of households without children under the age of five also stored pesticides in an unlocked cabinet, less than 4 feet off the ground (i.e., within the reach of children). This number is especially significant because 13% of all pesticide poisoning incidents occur in homes other than the child's home. Bathrooms and kitchens were cited as the areas in the home most likely to have improperly stored pesticides. Examples of some common household pesticides found in bathrooms and kitchens include roach sprays; chlorine bleach; kitchen and bath disinfectants; rat poison; insect and wasp sprays, repellents and baits; and, flea and tick shampoos and dips for pets. Other household pesticides include swimming pool chemicals and weed killers. EPA regulates pesticides in the United States under the pesticide law (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act). Since 1981, the law has required most residential-use pesticides with a signal word of "danger" or "warning" to be in child-resistant packaging. These are the pesticides which are most toxic to children. Child-resistant packaging is designed to prevent most children under the age of five from gaining access to the pesticide, or at least delay their access. However, individuals must also take precautions to protect children from accidental pesticide poisonings or exposures. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTAL POISONING: Always store pesticides away from children's reach, in a locked cabinet or garden shed. Child-proof safety latches may also be installed on cabinets and can be purchased at your local hardware stores; Read the label first and follow the directions to the letter, including all precautions and restrictions; Before applying pesticides (indoors or outdoors), remove children and their toys as well as pets from the area and keep them away until the pesticide has dried or as long as is recommended by the label; Folks…think about how the advertisers show how to and where to use disinfecting sprays….wipes! Take a close look at the ads…and think about how they are suggesting you use PESTICIDES in your home!!! It’s not right to make consumers think these products are safe!…jody If your use of a pesticide is interrupted (perhaps by a phone call), properly reclose the package and be sure to leave the container out of the reach of children while you are gone; Never transfer pesticides to other containers that children may associate with food or drink; Never place rodent or insect baits where small children can get to them; Use child-resistant packaging properly by closing the container tightly after use; Alert others to the potential hazard of pesticides, especially caregivers and grandparents; Teach children that "pesticides are poisons" -- something they should not touch; Keep the emergency phone number 1-800-222-1222 of the Poison Control Center near your telephone. IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, try to determine what the child was exposed to and what part of the body was affected before you take action, since taking the right action is as important as taking immediate action. If the person is unconscious, having trouble breathing, or having convulsions, give needed first aid immediately. Call 911 or your local emergency service. If the person is awake, conscious, not having trouble breathing, and not having convulsions, read the label for first aid instructions and contact your local Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. In most cases, the pesticide products label provides you with a "Statment of Treatment" to follow in emergencies. The appropriate first aid treatment depends on the kind of poisoning that has occurred. If first aid instructions are not available, follow these general guidelines: GENERAL FIRST AID GUIDELINES: Swallowed poison. Induce vomiting ONLY if emergency personnel on the phone tell you to do so. It will depend on what the child has swallowed; some petroleum products or caustic poisons will cause more damage if the child is made to vomit. Poison in eye. Eye membranes absorb pesticides faster than any other external part of the body; eye damage can occur in a few minutes with some types of pesticides. If poison splashes into an eye, hold the eyelid open and wash quickly and gently with clean running water from the tap or a gentle stream from a hose for at least 15 minutes. If possible, have someone else contact a Poison Control Center for you while the victim is being treated. Do not use eye drops or chemicals or drugs in the wash water. Poison on skin. If pesticide splashes on the skin, drench area with water and remove contaminated clothing. Wash skin and hair thoroughly with soap and water. Later, discard contaminated clothing or thoroughly wash it separately from other laundry. Inhaled poison. Carry or drag victim to fresh air immediately. If you think you need protection such as a respirator and one is not available to you, call the Fire Department and wait for emergency equipment before entering the area. Loosen victim's tight clothing. If the victim's skin is blue or the victim has stopped breathing, give artificial respiration (if you know how) and call rescue service for help. Open doors and windows so no one else will be poisoned by fumes. Additional pesticide product information can be obtained from the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at 1-800-858-7378. NPIC is a toll-free information service operated Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time (9:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time). 1. The American Association of Poison Control Centers defines poisoning as an adverse reaction due to symptoms from exposure to a poisonous substance. Back to Text 2. The American Association of Poison Control Centers defines exposure as having contact with a potentially poisonous substance; however, not necessarily showing symptoms of being poisoned. Back to Text Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (7506C) EPA 735-F-93-050, September 21, 2004

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CHILDREN'S SPECIAL VULNERABILITY TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS

CHILDREN'S SPECIAL VULNERABILITY TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS

The central theme of a pivotal report by the National Academy of Sciences in 1993 was that children are not "little adults" -- a fact already known to legions of parents, teachers, and others worldwide.^[1] Infants and children are different from adults because they are growing and developing. Environmental hazards affect children differently than adults. Their bodies are not fully mature, and therefore may not be capable of detoxifying certain harmful compounds. The very nature of children's behavior -- highly curious and physical -- can also put them at increased risk. That children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards is well established in the scientific literature. In fact, the World Health Organization recommended more than a decade ago that, "when health risks from chemicals are evaluated, the special characteristics of infants and children must be recognized."^[2]

GREATER EXPOSURE

Pound for pound, children breathe more air, drink more water, and consume more food than adults. This higher rate of intake means that children will receive higher doses of whatever contaminants are present in the air, water, or food. In addition, infants have a relatively greater surface area of skin than adults, thereby increasing their potential dermal absorption of certain compounds.

Differential Intake

• Children ages one through five eat three to four times more per unit of body weight than the average adult American.^[3] The average one-year-old drinks twenty-one times more apple juice and eleven times more grape juice, and eats two to seven and a half times more grapes, bananas, apples, pears, carrots and broccoli than the average adult.^[4]
  
  
• Infants and children drink more than two and a half times as much water daily as adults do as a percentage of body weight.^[5] (An infant living solely on formula consumes about one-seventh of his or her own weight of water each day, which corresponds to approximately three gallons, or thirty-five cans of soda, for a 155-pound adult man.^[6])
  
  
• The air intake of a resting infant is twice that of an adult under the same conditions.^[7]
  
  
• A typical newborn weighs one-twentieth of the weight of an adult male, but the infant's surface area is one-eighth as great. Therefore, the total area of skin that could be exposed to a chemical (by swimming or bathing in polluted water or rolling in dirt) is two and a half times as great per unit of body weight in the infant as in the adult.^[8]

Childhood Behavior

The typical nature of children's behavior also increases their exposure to environmental toxicants. An infant frequently explores objects by placing them in his or her mouth. This common hand-to-mouth behavior increases an infant's ingestion of substances in soil, household dust, floors and carpets, and on the objects themselves. In recognition of this, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed assuming that children aged three to five years old put their hands to their mouths an average of one and a half times per hour.^[9] As children grow, their endless curiosity and lack of fear can further increase their exposure to environmental hazards. With considerable physical energy, children can explore locations without regard for the consequences of their actions. At rest, children's breathing rates are faster than those of adults, and children's greater levels of physical activity can increase their breathing rates even further.

Children often play at ground level. In contrast, an adult's common breathing zone is four to six feet above the floor. Children will receive greater inhalation and dermal exposure to chemicals present on floors, carpet, grass, or dirt. Also, heavier chemicals such as lead and particulates will settle and accumulate in the air at ground level.

INCREASED SUSCEPTIBILITY

Human infants and children differ from adults not only in their size but also in the relative immaturity of their biochemical and physiological functions. Childhood is characterized by rapid physical and mental growth. Accordingly, certain organs may not be fully developed and may be more vulnerable to injury. Children absorb, metabolize, and excrete compounds differently than adults.

Rapid Growth and Development

The fetus is particularly sensitive to environmental toxicants.^[10] Chemicals can affect the children born to women exposed during pregnancy, while the women remain unaffected. For example, the children of women from Michigan who ate two to three meals of fish contaminated with PCBs per month for six years before pregnancy had lower birth weights, memory deficits at seven months and four years of age, and cognitive deficits persisted at eleven years of age.^[11] In Iraq, children born to women who during pregnancy inadvertently ate seed grain treated with mercury to prevent fungus had severe developmental and mental deficits.^[12]

An infant gains weight more rapidly during the first four to six months after birth than at any other time during his or her life.^[13] Typical newborns double their weight during the first five to six months and by their first birthday will weigh three times their birthweight.^[14]

The growth of integral parts of the central nervous system (brain) and the immune system (thymus) proceeds most rapidly in the first six years of life. At age six, a child's weight is only about 30 percent of an adult's, but the child's thymus is approximately the size of the adult's, and the brain is about 80 percent of adult size.^[15]

Many organs are not fully developed at birth and continue developing for years. The nervous system, lungs, immune system, and reproductive organs undergo extensive growth and development in utero and throughout infancy and early childhood. For example, sex organ development is not complete until puberty; myelination, the insulating of the nerve fibers, of the brain is not complete until adolescence; and the alveoli, or terminal air sacs in the lung where oxygen from the air enters the blood, continue to increase in number until adolescence.^[16]

Differential Absorption, Metabolism, and Excretion

Infants' and children's pathways of absorption, metabolism, and excretion of compounds are different from those of adults.^[17] In some instances, children may be more susceptible than adults due to their increased rates of absorption or decreased rates of elimination of foreign compounds. In other cases, the opposite may be true. Children will absorb about 50 percent of lead ingested, whereas adults will absorb only about 10 to 15 percent.^[18] Kidneys are the principal pathway for elimination of most chemicals from the body. At birth an infant's kidney's filtration rate is a fraction of adult values, and by age one the rate is at adult levels.^[19]

Recent molecular epidemiological data indicate that infants and children retain greater amounts of certain environmental toxicants. In a study of Polish newborns and their mothers, biomarkers, levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-induced DNA damage, were measured. Among newborns exposed to PAHs in utero, the level of DNA damage was comparable to the level in their mothers, even though the estimated dose to the fetus was one-tenth of that to the mother.^[20] Similarly, in young children (under two years of age), levels of an indicator of exposures to PAHs (1-hydroxypyrene glucuronide) in urine were higher than in their mothers.^[21] Another study investigated PCB levels in individuals residing on a Mohawk reservation downstream from pollution sources on the St. Lawrence River. PCBs were found in the breast milk and urine of women who ate fish caught in the river. The PCB concentrations in the urine of breast-fed infants were ten times higher than in the urine of their mothers.^[22]

Longer Lifetimes

Children have more years of future life than most adults. Therefore, they have more time to develop any chronic diseases that might be triggered by early environmental exposures. Many diseases initiated by chemical hazards require decades to develop. Early childhood exposure to certain carcinogens or toxicants may be more likely to lead to disease than the same exposures experienced later in life.

Scientific Research Needs

Though children's unique vulnerability to environmental risk is now an accepted scientific axiom, much remains to be done to safeguard the next generation. In particular, much is still unknown about the effects of environmental exposures on children and infants: Are there critical periods of vulnerability during childhood? What are the differential susceptibilities for children? We need to better understand which differences between children and adults apply to all environmental hazards (e.g., differential air, water, or food intake rates) and which differences relate to specific categories of toxicants (e.g., neurotoxins' potentially greater impact on the developing central nervous system). Research identifying new types of toxic effects that have potentially significant impacts on children, such as endocrine disruption or immunotoxicity, is critical. Further study is important for determining how certain doses and health endpoints may be of primary concern in adults while different doses and endpoints may be more relevant to children. During childhood, for example, potential exposure to a neurotoxin will likely be of greater concern than exposure to a substance that elevates the likelihood of high blood pressure or heart disease; far later in life, the risk of cardiovascular disease will likely be of paramount significance. More scientific research is imperative. In the meantime, sufficient evidence exists to warrant increased protection for children from environmental hazards.

---

Notes

1. National Research Council, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, Washington D.C.: National Academy Press,1993.

2. International Programme on Chemical Safety, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks From Chemicals During Infancy and Early Childhood: The Need for a Special Approach, Environmental Health Criteria 59, World Health Organization, 1986.

3. Wiles, R. and C. Campbell, Pesticides in Children's Food, Environmental Working Group, 1993.

4. Wiles and Campbell, Pesticides in Children's Food.

5. Plunkett, L. et al., "Differences Between Adults and Children Affecting Exposure Assessment," Similarities and Differences Between Children and Adults: Implications for Risk Assessment, International Life Sciences Institute, 1992, pp. 79-94.

6. Principles for Evaluating Health Risks From Chemicals During Infancy and Early Childhood.

7. Principles for Evaluating Health Risks From Chemicals During Infancy and Early Childhood.

8. Principles for Evaluating Health Risks From Chemicals During Infancy and Early Childhood.

9. U.S. EPA, Residential Exposure Assessment Work Group, Draft - Standard Operating Procedures for Residential Exposure Assessments, July 18, 1997.

10. Birnbaum, L.S., "Endocrine Effects of Prenatal Exposures to PCBs, Dioxins, and Other Xenobiotics: Implications for Policy and Future Research," Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 102, no. 8, 1994, pp.676-679. Y.L. Guo et al., "Growth Abnormalities in the Population Exposed in Utero and Early Postnatally to Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Dibenzrofurans," Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 105, suppl. 6, September 1995, pp.117-122.

11. Jacobson, J.L. et al., "The Transfer of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs) across the Human Placenta and into Maternal Milk," American Journal of Public Health, vol. 74, 1984, pp.378-9. J. Jacobson et al., "Effects of In Utero Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Related Contaminants on Cognitive Functioning in Young Children," Pediatrics, vol. 116, 1990, pp.38-45. S.W. Jacobson et al., "The Effect of Intrauterine PCB Exposure on Visual Recognition Memory," Child Dev, vol. 56,1985, pp.853-60. J.L. Jacobson et al., "Effects of Exposure to PCBs and Related Compounds on Growth and Activity in Children," Neurotoxicol. Teratol., vol.12, 1990, pp. 319-26.

12. Gilbert, S. G. and K. Grant-Webster, "Neurobehavioral Effects of Developmental Methyl-Mercury Exposure," Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 103, supp. 6, September 1995, pp. 135-142.

13. Principles for Evaluating Health Risks From Chemicals During Infancy and Early Childhood: The Need for a Special Approach.

14. Wiles and Campbell, Pesticides in Children's Food.

15. Sonawane, B. and R. Beliles, "The Susceptibility of Children to Immunotoxic and Neurotoxic Agents," Poster Abstract, lst National Research Conference on Children's Environmental Health, Children's Environmental Health Network, February 21-23, 1997, Washington, D.C.

16. Bearer, C., "How Are Children Different from Adults?" Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 103, supp. 6, September 1995, pp. 7-12.

17. Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, 1993.

18. Royce, S. and H. Needleman, Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Lead Toxicity, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1995.

19. Bearer, "How Are Children Different from Adults?"

20. Perera, F., "Molecular Epidemiology: Insights Into Cancer Susceptibility, Risk Assessment and Prevention," JNCI, vol 88, April 17, 1996, pp.496-509.

21. Perera, "Molecular Epidemiology."

22. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ATSDR, and Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, Exposure to PCBs from Hazardous Waste Among Mohawk Women and Infants at Akwesasne

When God Made Mothers

With Mothers Day Around the corner, I wanted to share this with every Mom who has ever stayed up all night with a sick child, regardless of the cause. Happy Mothers Day!

When God Made Mothers

By the time God made mothers, he was into his sixth day of working overtime. An Angel appeared and said "Why are you spending so much time on this one?"

And God answered and said, "Have you seen the spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have 200 movable parts, all replaceable, run on black coffee and leftovers, have a lap that can hold three children at one time and that disappears when she stands up, have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart, and have six pairs of hands."

The Angel was astounded at the requirements for this one. "Six pairs of hands! No Way!" said the Angel. God replied, "Oh, it's not the hands that are the problem, It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers must have!" And that's just on the standard model?" the Angel asked.

God nodded in agreement, "Yep, one pair of eyes are to see through the closed door as she asks her children what they are doing, even though she already knows. Another pair in the back of her head are to see what she needs to know even though no one thinks she can. And the third pair are here in the front of her head. They are for looking at an errant child and saying that she understands and loves him or her without even saying a single word."

The Angel tried to stop God. "This is too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish.."

"But I can't," God protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick and can feed a family of six on a pound of hamburger and can get a nine year old to stand in the shower!" The Angel moved closer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Lord."

"She is soft", the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."

"Will she be able to think?", asked the Angel.

The Lord replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason, and negotiate."

The Angel then noticed something and reached out and touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like you have a leak with this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one."

"That's not a leak", God said, "That's a tear!"

"What's the tear for?" the Angel asked.

God said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her disappointment, her pain, her loneliness, her grief, and her pride."

The Angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything. WOMEN are truly amazing!"


Pass this to an amazing woman you know!

Airing the Truth About Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution

(7/04)

http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=107829

Air pollution affects everyone. You can’t hide from it, even inside your own home. Just consider these facts…

• The Environmental Protection Agency ranks poor indoor air quality among the top five environmental risks to public health. Interestingly, five out of 10 Americans are not aware of this fact. (Source: American Lung Association and 3M survey, 2002.
• Levels of air pollution inside the home can be two to five times higher (and occasionally 100 times higher) than outdoor levels. (Source: Environmental Protection Agency, 2002)
• Asthma, which can be triggered by either indoor or outdoor air pollution, annually accounts for an estimated three million lost workdays for adults and 10.1 million lost school days in children. Asthma costs our nation $12.7 billion in health care costs annually. (Source: American Lung Association, Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality, 2002)

· Nearly 75 percent of Americans live with someone who has allergies, asthma, emphysema or another respiratory illness.

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Do you know of anyone with breathing problems? Lets talk!