NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
September 30, 1999
Note to Editors: October is National Home Indoor Air Quality Action Month
Exposure to secondhand cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoke is a major cause of illness among children in the United States.
Research shows that smoking in the home by parents can result in many health problems for young children, including sudden infant death syndrome, pneumonia, bronchitis, impaired lung function, increased episodes of asthma and delayed recovery from respiratory illnesses. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,00 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections annually in infants and children under 18 months of age, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year.
"The answer to this problem is simple," says Ken Hellevang, an air quality expert with the North Dakota State University Extension Service. "If you are a parent, do not smoke in your home or around your children. And, do not let other people smoke in your home, your car or around your children."
For more information about indoor air quality visit the NDSU Extension Service Indoor Air Quality site at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/iaq.htm, the EPA's web site: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/, or call the EPA Indoor Air Quality Info Line at (800) 438-4318.
October is national Home Indoor Air Quality Action and Awareness Month as part of the Healthy Indoor Air for America's Homes Project, a cooperative effort of educators in each state, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EPA.
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Source: George Maher (701) 231-8288
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629