Environmental Issue & Sick Building Syndrome Blog

According to the EPA, of the 85,000 synthetic chemicals in commerce today, only a small fraction has been tested for toxicity on human health.  They also site a 2005 study that found 287 different chemicals in cord blood of 10 newborn babies - chemicals from pesticides, fast food packaging, coal and gasoline emissions and trash incineration.

It is difficult to keep our own homes as free of environmental risks for our children, it is beyond our ability to control the toxins and biological exposures in a daycare facility. We can’t follow them all day in the daycare.  

The best we can hope for is to select a daycare that is diligent in protecting our children by knowing the dangers and working at minimizing them in their facility.

Our children are at a much greater risk for harm from indoor air pollutants as they breath in more air as compared to their body weight that adults. Their growing bodies also absorb a higher percentage of toxins they are exposed to such as lead. 

Common sources of indoor air pollution include:

• Mold and other allergens
• Communicable and infectious diseases
• CO and VOC’s from combustion sources
• Lead from paint and imported plastic toys
• Radon
• Toxins from plastics such as microwaved bottles, sippy cups, teething rings
• Building materials and furnishings that contain contaminants such as formaldehyde
• Mercury from broken CFL bulbs
• Asbestos
• Pesticides and cleaning chemical residue

The EPA states that there are so many sources of indoor air pollution in childcare facilities that the air is considered to be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air.