ClearFlite Air Purifiers - Newsletters - Volume 3
Getting Your Allergy-Suffering Child Ready for the School Year
If you have a child who suffers from seasonal allergies or asthma, school days can be particularly trying. During the summer, when you have your children at home, you can control their environment through the use of room air purifiers and giving them their medications as required, and by keeping them indoors when the weatherman says it's a high ozone day. During the school year, however, that control is greatly diminished, not only as far as your child's breathing goes, but in every other area too!
There are many things you can do to mitigate your child's problems at school and during the school year. First of all, make sure that the school nurse, and all of your child's teachers are aware of your child's particular allergy or asthma problems. A child may be having a low energy day due to a flare-up of his or her allergy symptoms, or lack of sleep due to a night attack of asthma. An uninformed teacher may think the child is disinterested or uncooperative, unless he or she is aware of the child's allergy experience, and remembers it. Changes in medication may also affect the child, so notify the teacher when that's happening. Good teachers love to be informed.
It's important to inform the school before opening day about your child's allergic reactions to particular animals. If bunny rabbits and guinea pigs make your child's allergy symptoms flare up, let the school and the teacher know right away, so that they don't later have to get rid of a beloved class pet. It will be hard on your child if he or she isn't allowed to handle the class pet as other children can.
Make sure your child's school nurse has an adequate supply of allergy or asthma medications to give your child (along with appropriate documentation from the child's doctor), particularly eye drops. There's nothing worse for kids trying to see the blackboard and to do their school work than itchy, watery eyes.
Adequate sleep is particularly important to growing children. Make sure your child's room is staying as clean as possible with a room air purifier, appropriate for the size of the room. Keep the doors and windows closed so the air purifier will be most effective. Early fall is a good time to check your prefilters and main filters to make sure they don't need to be changed, and if they do, change them before the hectic school days begin.
Fall cleaning is a good thing to do before the school year starts as well. Wash all the bedding, curtains, and anything washable in the child's room to get rid of those dustmites. Clean and vacuum the upholstery and carpeting. After vacuuming, always run your air purifier on high for a few hours, unless you have an allergy vacuum because vacuuming stirs things up.
When you begin to pull out last winter's clothing, especially the wool ones, be sure to wash them or get them cleaned. The dustmite and mold families will have been growing during the time they were packed away. If anything smells moldy, it is moldy! Mold spores are the last thing your child needs to be breathing. Get it cleaned or throw it out.
It's also a good idea to set up an appointment with your child's allergy or asthma doctor before school starts. If the child has grown a lot or put on weight, allergy medications may need to be recalculated. A letter from your doctor explaining your child's particular allergies, asthmatic condition, or other respiratory problems is a good thing to give to your child's school. Also, check with the doctor about any food allergies that might be exacerbating your child's allergy problems.
We have had many parents ask if they should buy an air purifier for their child's school room. The answer depends on the child's schedule and whether or not an air purifier would be effective in the room. If your child is older and moves from room to room for different classes, then it's probably not going to help much. If your child stays in one room most of the day, then a room air purifier might be helpful. Use the same criteria in judging the room that you would use for a room in your house. You'll need to know the room size and ceiling height, how open the room is (doors and windows etc), and where the air purifier might be located. You would have to get the teacher's commitment to running the air purifier continually as well. If your child spends a lot of his or her day in an old building, it would be particularly good to try to get an air purifier placed in the room. Sick building syndrome is a real problem with many older schools. Consider quality HEPA room air purifiers like IQAir and Austin Air for the classroom. They have long lasting filters and are good general purpose air purifiers. A Friedrich unit is probably not a good idea, because it requires regular washing of the electrostatic filters. You want an air purifier that won't require maintenance on the part of the teacher or school. If you are able to get a room air purifier in your child's classroom, it will not only help your child but the entire class of children. It might also be a good idea to inform the school that the air purifier will travel from grade to grade with your child, so that you don't end up having to buy one every year.
With the Beauty of Autumn, Come Autumnal Allergies!
One of the best things about being a company that sells air purifiers is that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they genuinely help people. There's nothing worse than living on this beautiful planet but not enjoying the myriad of natural beauty it gives us. Plan to enjoy the sights and sounds, the colors and scents of autumn by being prepared. As August and early autumn roll around know that the Weeds and Molds will be out to get you but you do not have to succumb! Although spring is notorious for dampening the spirits of allergy sufferers, fall can sometimes be even more troublesome. Get your room air purifiers ready with clean filters! Be informed and be ready, but plan to enjoy the season too.
Be on the Watch for Weeds!
Ragweed. It even has an ugly common name. Ironically, its official name is Ambrosia Artemisiifolia, but there's no connection here to “ambrosia” known as food for the gods! Common ragweed is the leading cause of fall hay fever symptoms in the U.S. Ragweed is a summer growing annual which produces abundant pollen. Click here if you want to see lots of images of the culprit.
Ragweed flourishes in many parts of the country, particularly in the
Midwest and Central U.S. Quite the traveler, its pollen can travel up to
400 miles, so it's possible to be affected by it even though it isn't growing
in your neighborhood (sometimes life is just not fair!). Thankfully, the
first frost spells the end of the season for ragweed, thus proving there
is something good about the onset of winter.
Ragweed is not the only weed that can cause fall allergy
symptoms. Other perpetrators include: cockle weed, mugwort,
dock, amaranth, sagebrush, pigweed, lamb's quarters, Russian thistle (known
as tumble weed), and English plantain. But if you just stay away from the
Ragweed, you'll be a lot better off.
Stay Away From These Trees and Grasses
Fall seasonal allergies can also be exacerbated by trees which pollinate in the fall including cedar elm, chinese elm, September elm, and eucalyptus. Some of the grasses which trigger fall allergies are pampas grass, fountain grass, and wild mustard.
Molds – Always A Problem
Outdoor molds take off in autumn when gutters fill up with leaves, dirt and gunk. Gardens get full of leaves, rotting vegetation and moist soil which can also trigger allergenic reactions. Mold spores start flying around when you clean out your gardens, mow the lawn or rake leaves so it may be helpful to wear a face mask while doing these chores. For keeping the mold down indoors, always run your room air purifiers on high during and after vacuuming.
Product Line Highlight
IQAir, Not Just Another Air Purifier!
If someone from Harvard University or The National Cancer Institute of Bethesda, Maryland told you his or her choice for an air purifier was the IQAir, wouldn't you want to know more? If cleaning your air was as important to you as it was to the surgeons who performed the first Latin/American artificial heart transplant, wouldn't you want to know their choice of air cleaner? Their choice was the IQAir air purifiers.
IQAir machines are used in countries around the world not only because of their superior cleaning abilities but because of the variety of air cleaners available for every situation.
When you want statistics you can rest assured IQ has them. For example, the IQAir has been tested by the world's most advanced stringent test available for HEPA air cleaners, the EN 1822, and it passed with flying colors. Many hospitals and high tech manufacturers such as Intel, already require that their filter suppliers are EN 1822 certified.
The EN 1822 is a two part test which identifies particle size and penetration to IQ's filter system and how well the unit maintains the particles. IQAir guarantees that every unit captures and retains at least 99.97% of all particles 0.3 microns and at least 99.5% of all particles smaller then 0.3 microns. With a guarantee like this you can be sure IQAir captures even the smallest particles.
With sophisticated options such as a six speed setting, integrated timer set to run anytime convenient to you, remote control with capabilities of 30 feet, and ultra quiet design, IQAir has become the choice for home use while still dominating the business and commercial sectors, particularly hospitals, doctors' offices, and laboratories.
Swiss precision engineering with a solid 40 year history of providing clean air solutions to people around the world has earned IQ a top ranking with our company. Which IQAir is right for you? Its simple: Allergy sufferers who do not have a particular need for chemical or odor control will benefit greatly with the Health Pro Compact or HealthPro. For those who also have chemical sensitivity, the HealthPro Plus is the answer. For more particular problems or applications, there are many more IQAir air purifiers, just give us a call and we'll determine the perfect one for your needs.
