While French schoolchildren spend the majority of their time within classroom walls, an Inserm study warns of the dangers of indoor pollutantson children’s health. Children are more sensitive than adults to air quality. Indoor air pollution is not without consequences for their health in the short and long term. Exposure to different air pollutants increases the risk for children of develop asthma or a rhinitis. It is on this relationship between exposure to the main atmospheric pollutants and the appearance of asthma and rhinitis in schoolchildren that the team of Isabella Annesi-Maesano, research director at Inserm, has looked into. 6,000 schoolchildren with an average age of 10 in 401 classes in 108 primary schools participated in the study. The experiment was carried out in six French cities ((Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Créteil, Marseille, Strasbourg and Reims).
Scientists combed through the concentrations of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide, well-known sources of pollution from cars. Also in the collimator of researchers, the presence in the air of aldehydes, organic compounds found in many materials: combustion products (cigarettes, candles, incense, fireplace, gas stoves), construction and decoration (wood, laminate floors, carpet glues, wallpapers, but also varnishes, insulating foams), maintenance (detergents, disinfectants, wipes) and treatment (insecticides).
The conclusion of their study is clear: 30% of schoolchildren are subject to levels of indoor pollutants that exceed the values recommended by the WHO and ANSES (national health security agency). Exposure directly associated with an increase in the frequency of asthma and rhinitis.
>> To read also: Lead, mold, radon: hunt for indoor pollutants
>> To read also: Rhinitis: how to recognize it?
