The Environmental Protection Agency states that, “The average
adult breathes 13,000 liters of air per day; children breathe 50
percent more air per pound of body weight than adults.” And,
because children’s respiratory systems are still developing,
they are much more vulnerable to the health dangers of airborne
and other pollutants or allergic particles in the home. What is
of particular concern are fine and coarse particles, less than
2.5 micrometers, and those between 2.5 micrometers and 10
micrometers, respectively. Of the two, the coarse particles hold
more health dangers in that they are small enough to be breathed
into the respiratory tract and into the lungs, but at times may
be too large to be easily exhaled. But particles aren’t the only
health threats in our homes. To understand the severity of this
matter, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) commissioned
laboratory tests to determine the effects of pollutants. The
tests found as many as 232 chemicals in newborns in the study;
the chemicals includ