IAQ & Healthy Homes

Children’s Health and Their Home Environment: What the Research Tells Us

• 

  Kevin Kennedy

  Program Director, Environmental Health Program, Section of Toxicology and Environmental Health
  Children's Mercy Kansas City
  Kansas City, Missouri

You’ve all heard it before. Children spend 90% of their time indoors. In the US this means they spend 90% of their time directly exposed the whatever materials, particles, and chemicals the building is made of, managed by, and oozing with. Chronic diseases in children have been increasing for decades and the connection to exposure to things in their homes and schools has become clearer with improved knowledge and better research. Now, what are we going to do about it. In this session, we’ll discuss what we know about indoor environmental exposure and health impacts in children, and effective interventions to reduce or eliminate exposure to contaminants in order to improve their health.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Be able to describe the 3 most common issues in buildings that are associated with Chronic health problems in children
• Understand common contaminant pathways that lead to exposure to contaminants in buildings
• Be able to identify several interventions that are effective at reducing exposure to indoor contaminants