Baby Air Purifier: What Should You Know?
While poor indoor air quality can be harmful to adults, infants are even more vulnerable because their respiratory systems are still developing. Since a baby spends most of their time indoors and breathes twice as much as an adult, the quality of the air they inhale is crucial for healthy development.
Indoor air is considered to be 5 to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air, which is why installing an air purifier in your baby's room can be beneficial to help them grow up in a clean environment. Why use a baby air purifier and how to choose the right one? TEQOYA shares everything you need to know!
Where Does Indoor Air Pollution Come From and What Are Its Effects on an Infant?
Sources of Indoor Air Pollution
Since your baby spends most of their time indoors, it's important to remember that in France, the average home contains around 30 different pollutants. Inside your home, your baby is exposed not only to outdoor air, which may be more or less polluted depending on where you live (e.g., car exhaust), but also to a wide range of indoor pollutants.
In your child's room, several pollutants may affect indoor air quality. Chief among them are VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). These VOCs—especially one of the most toxic, formaldehyde—can be released from wall and floor coverings, materials, paint, cleaning products, and furniture, and may cause irritation in children. Dust can also impact air quality, especially if your baby's room includes many decorative elements like cushions, curtains, or carpeting, which tend to collect dust.
Finally, it is strongly advised against burning incense or lighting candles in young children's rooms, as they may release particularly irritating substances. Other indoor pollutants can also come from lifestyle choices, such as tobacco smoke or pet hair.
The Effects of Poor Indoor Air Quality on Your Baby
These various factors greatly degrade the air quality your children breathe and can have harmful effects on their health. UNICEF reports that in France, 75% of children grow up breathing polluted air. Unfortunately, they are at higher risk of developing chronic illnesses such as eczema, obesity, or even depressive disorders.
Indeed, when inhaling, a certain amount of pollutants enters through the respiratory tract and into the lungs. As the association Respire explains, larger particles tend to get trapped in the nasal passages, and if they go further, the body can usually eliminate them. The main concern lies with the smaller, finer particles (PM2.5), which are the most dangerous to health. Due to their tiny size, they can reach the ends of the respiratory system, into the alveoli, causing lung diseases. They can also enter the bloodstream and block small blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular issues.
These particles can cause many illnesses, such as chronic bronchitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma symptoms, or asthma attacks. They can also lead to much more serious conditions, including lung cancer, strokes, or heart attacks.
In short, if your child grows up in an environment with poor indoor air quality—especially air filled with irritating pollutants—they are more likely to develop allergies or chronic and/or respiratory illnesses later in life.
"If, between the ages of 0 and 7, a child repeatedly breathes in irritating pollutants, their respiratory future is at risk. Pollutants also worsen allergies, especially respiratory ones." Dr. S. Déoux, 2014
Why Use an Air Purifier for Your Baby?
Protecting Your Infant's Still-Developing Respiratory System
At birth, a baby's respiratory system is far from fully developed. They only have about 50 million pulmonary alveoli. Two years later, this number multiplies by six to reach 300 million. Then, until the age of 7 or 8, each alveolus continues to grow. These limited respiratory capacities mean they cannot effectively protect themselves from external pollutants.
Moreover, the airways of young children differ from those of adults. Newborns breathe almost exclusively through their noses until around 3 months old (French Society of Nurse Anesthetists). For this reason, ensuring good indoor air quality is crucial to prevent illness in your baby. In fact, both outdoor and indoor air pollution are clearly recognized as major factors contributing to the development of allergies and asthma.
Preventing the Development of Respiratory Diseases like Infant Asthma
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by inflammation of the bronchial tubes, and it frequently affects young children. In France, childhood asthma figures are significant and, unfortunately, increasing. As early as the 2010s, Santé Publique France conducted a study showing that the prevalence of asthma in young children rose between 2005 and 2012. According to the methodology used in the ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood), 7.4% of children currently suffer from asthma. The prevalence is higher among boys (9.3%) than girls (5.4%). In 2015, there were 62,782 hospital stays related to asthma, regardless of age (excluding Mayotte), with nearly 46% of those concerning children under the age of 4.
The asthma surveillance system by Santé Publique France, covering various age groups, shows a rising trend among the youngest children, as shown in the following chart for 5-year-olds.
Installing an air purifier helps reduce the triggers (infections, allergens, etc.) of this disease that affects the youngest children.
Which Air Purifier Should You Choose?
The Different Air Purification Technologies
To clean the air your young child breathes, several air purifier technologies are available. We actually shared a blog article to help you better understand them.
Among the most common technologies is the HEPA filter, which is very effective but whose performance decreases over time due to clogging, meaning it must be regularly replaced. You can read more about this in another article analyzing how HEPA filters work and their limitations.
Another powerful technology for air purification is ozone-free air ionization using negative ions. Negative ions are naturally abundant in the purest natural environments but disappear in urban or polluted areas. When reproduced inside your home, they attach to allergens, viruses, mold, pollen, germs, and other pollutants, removing up to 99%—even the finest particles. In addition to purifying the air, negative ions also provide health and wellness benefits.
Choosing a Natural TEQOYA Ionizer
Backed by 20 years of research, our air purifiers were originally designed to help people with asthma and respiratory illnesses protect their health. Our products therefore offer all the benefits of ionization along with many other advantages for everyone's comfort and the planet's well-being.
Perfectly suited for use in a baby's room, the TEQOYA T200 and TEQOYA T450 models offer complete acoustic comfort, with no detectable noise. They're also parent-friendly: our ionizers require no filter replacements or purchases.
In terms of performance, our air purifiers are tested by independent laboratories, and their effectiveness is proven. Built without planned obsolescence, they come with a 10-year warranty. Lastly, our purifiers consume very little energy—only 2 to 3 Watts depending on the model, which is less than a child's nightlight.
Conclusion:
Your baby is exposed to many sources of indoor and outdoor pollution that must be avoided to ensure they grow up healthy. To help with this, you can choose an indoor air purifier equipped with natural air ionization technology. It will eliminate pollutants from your indoor air—such as allergens, dust, particles, and VOCs. This solution will allow your child to grow up in a healthy environment, protecting their still-developing respiratory system and reducing exposure to aggravating factors of illnesses like asthma.
That said, don't forget the right daily habits: air out your home for 5 to 10 minutes every day, and avoid renovating your baby's room just before their arrival to limit the emission of pollutants from paint and furniture!
Sources:
- French Health Insurance: https://www.ameli.fr/paris/assure/sante/themes/asthme-nourrisson/definition-facteurs-favorisants-aggravants
- Children's Health in Kindergarten (2005–2006): https://drees.solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/publications/etudes-et-resultats/la-sante-des-enfants-en-grande-section-de-maternelle-en-2005-0
- Santé Publique France. Epidemiological surveillance of asthma in France – Hospitalizations in 2015. Website: Santé Publique France. Saint-Maurice (France); 2018 [accessed November 30, 2020] https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/maladies-et-traumatismes/maladies-et-infections-respiratoires/asthme/donnees
- Interview with Dr. Suzanne Déoux by Le Figaro in 2014: https://sante.lefigaro.fr/actualite/2014/05/29/22405-on-hypotheque-lavenir-respiratoire-enfants
- ADEME: Why is it recommended to ventilate your home every day? https://agirpourlatransition.ademe.fr/particuliers/sport-sante/sante/pourquoi-conseille-daerer-logement-tous-jours#:~:text=Ouvrir%20grand%20vos%20fen%C3%AAtres%20pendant,pas%20le%20temps%20de%20refroidir.
- French Society of Nurse Anesthetists: Newborn Physiology https://sofia.medicalistes.fr/spip/IMG/pdf/Physiologie_du_nouveau_ne.pdf
- Respire Association: Children Are More Vulnerable to Air Pollution https://respire-asso.org/les-enfants-sont-plus-vulnerables-pollution-de-l-air/
- UNICEF: The Dangers of Air Pollution on Children https://www.unicef.fr/convention-droits-enfants/changements-climatiques/pollution-de-lair/
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