A child's arrival can be one of life's most joyous occasions, and if you're expecting a baby, you may be focused on planning the baby shower or decorating the nursery. While finding interesting color schemes and baby furniture can be exciting, you may be unaware that many of the products commonly found in nurseries such as paint, furniture, and carpeting can emit harmful pollutants such as particulates and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into your baby's air.
Paying close attention to your child's indoor air quality is extremely important, as prolonged exposure to airborne pollutants can result in adverse health effects such as asthma, allergies, hay fever, and breathing difficulties. In fact, studies conducted by the EPA have shown that asthma afflicts approximately 6.3 million children, with the biggest growth in asthma cases occurring in children under five. Asthma also tends to be interrelated to allergies, with a large number of asthmatic children also suffering from severe allergies. Therefore, with this in mind, creating a natural baby nursery should take precedence over many other baby-planning activities, as clean air and a baby's immune system are inextricably linked.
Organic Wool Duvet
As mentioned, VOCs often plague baby nurseries, and they can be found in products such as gasoline, nail polish, and paint thinners. In addition to being hazardous to your baby's health, VOCs harms the environment by contributing to ground-level ozone. Look to these tips to make your nursery as safe as possible.
Paint
VOCs are found in many paints and are released in the air as the paint dries. Before painting your nursery, be sure to look for paints that are low in both VOCs and odor. After the nursery is painted, keep the room well-ventilated by keeping windows open and fans on until there is no remaining odor. Children and pregnant women should also avoid going inside newly painted rooms for at least 72 hours, and if you must paint after the baby comes home, keep the child in another bedroom for a few weeks or until there is no odor.
Floors
Because infants and young children spend the majority of their time on the floor, look for safe floor coverings such as cotton hand-loomed rugs, natural carpet, or even carpet tiles. Also look for area rugs made of natural fibers such as sea grass, sisal, coir, hemp, or jute, as these are stylish, extremely durable, often cost less than wool. If you choose to use conventional carpet or rug, air it out in a ventilated area for a week before installation, or ask the carpet retailer to have it aired out and unrolled a week prior to installation and/or delivery.
Furniture
Beware of cribs, changing tables, dressers, and shelves made of laminated wood, pressed wood, fiberboard, or particle board, as these can eliminate formaldehyde due to the glue in the products. Instead, opt for solid wood cribs and furniture and use natural or chemical-free bedding.
To further protect your baby from pollutants, consider purchasing a high quality air purifier with HEPA and Activated Carbon. Not only do these air purifiers offer a high level of protection from a variety of airborne contaminants, they also create a gentle hush that resembles the familiar sound your baby has enjoyed for nine months in the womb.