Recently, the United Nations Children’s Fund released the latest report that air pollution harms hundreds of millions of children around the world, resulting in their physical and mental damage. 1n the past three months, Beijing Tianjin Hebei region and Northeast China have also suffered from frequent haze attacks. Parents rush to buy children’s masks, hoping to set up a last line of defense for their children’s health. But many people doubt that the relevant departments have not issued standards for children’s masks. Can the so-called children’s masks really prevent haze? What is the effect
300 million children around the world breathe dirty air, and air pollution is even more harmful to children
recently, a report by the United Nations Children’s fund shows that 300 million children around the world are exposed to polluted air six times the standard of the World Health Organization, and on average, one in seven children suffer from serious air pollution, which may lead to their physical and mental damage
Anthony, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund? Reke said that air pollution is the main cause of the death of about 600000 children under the age of five every year, seriously affecting the future of children. Because children’s lung, brain and immune system are in the development stage, the respiratory tract is more likely to be invaded by air pollutants, which may also invade the blood-brain barrier and cause permanent damage to the brain
Guo Sumei, director of Pediatrics and deputy chief physician of Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University, said that the harm of haze to children is far greater than that of adults: first, children have almost no nose hair, and their defense ability is weak, so they have less protection than adults; Second, children’s height is low, close to the ground, more likely to inhale pollutants on the ground into the lungs; Third, the respiratory rate of children is faster than that of adults, and more pollutants are inhaled per unit time; Fourth, the child’s respiratory system is immature, the mucous membrane is not fully developed, and the cilia are rare, which is not conducive to the removal and discharge of dust, bacteria and mucus; Fifth, children’s immunoglobulin secretion is less than that of adults, and their local defense against pollutants is poor
the impact of air pollution on children lasts for a lifetime, involving all aspects of physical and mental health. For example, cognitive ability and reproductive health affect school performance, medical expenses and other socio-economic aspects, and reduce the well-being of children and their parents
masks are uncomfortable, children don’t love them, and parents can’t buy suitable masks for children.
we all know that they need to wear masks in haze days, but the author observed that less than half of the children wear masks correctly< Guo Sumei pointed out that there are three reasons why children do not want to wear masks: first, the masks have a layer of cloth. 1n order to prevent the entry of fine particles, they are made very carefully and have poor air permeability, which makes children feel suffocated and difficult to breathe; Second, in order to fit the face, regular anti haze masks often use a very tight rubber band, either from the back of the head or hanging on the ears, which will make children very uncomfortable; Third, the nose and mouth breathing will bring out water vapor, wet the mask, the covered face will be very uncomfortable what worries parents even more is that it is difficult to buy suitable children’s masks on the market. The author investigated 8 drugstores and convenience stores near the central business district of Beijing, 3 of which sell children’s masks. A salesman said that the mask is made of multi-layer cotton cloth, which can effectively prevent haze and can be cleaned repeatedly. The outer package of the mask is written with the words of “activated carbon filter element”, “PM2.5 can be protected”, etc. 1n this regard, Chen Haida, Secretary General of the safety and health protection products committee of China Textile Business Association, said that facial masks can only filter out some dust and bacteria, and activated carbon can only isolate peculiar smell, which can not protect PM2.5 in a drugstore, a mother who was choosing a mask said, “it’s too difficult to choose a mask for her child! 1n desperation, 1 bought an adult N95 for my son. ” Chen Haida said that the mask with N95 logo is an industrial level protective mask with high respiratory resistance and high requirements for users’ cardiopulmonary function. 1t needs professional training to be worn, otherwise it is easy to affect health and is not suitable for children< There are many anti haze masks on the market, which are advertised as "special for children", but the design is almost a reduced version of the adult mask. The filter element is slightly thinner than the adult mask, which does not really pay attention to children's cardiopulmonary function, 1t doesn't take into account the differences in facial bone structure between children and adults. " Chen Haida said that children's face shape is smaller than that of adults, and their bones are developing. They can't fully support the three-dimensional structure of masks like adults, and the protective effect of general masks is not ideal< Chen Haida said that the "technical specification for daily protective masks" (hereinafter referred to as the "specification") was officially implemented on November 1 this year, but the "specification" clearly states that this standard "does not apply to children's masks", because there are great differences in children's physical characteristics, and the research on the impact of respiratory resistance on children's growth needs to be improved. Without relevant national standards, children can only wear cotton masks or adult masks suitable for small groups. But the former can't prevent PM2.5. 1f it is not cleaned and disinfected frequently, it may breed bacteria; The latter is not only uncomfortable to wear, but also often "leak" due to too large model. Pollutants are easy to enter from the edge or the gap between the two sides of the nose, which basically does not play a filtering role Chen Haida called on relevant national departments to formulate standards and specifications for children’s masks as soon as possible. First, standardize mask manufacturers; second, let consumers have rules to follow when purchasing children’s masks, so as not to be hoodwinked by false advertising. At the same time, mask manufacturers should take the initiative to develop a set of specifications specifically for children’s masks; Strict requirements for product quality, pay attention to children’s cardiopulmonary function, and actively develop respiratory protection products that are really suitable for children Chen Haida suggested that masks with high fit, low respiratory impedance and high filtration are the first choice for children’s anti haze masks. The existing melt blown non-woven mask has material bottleneck, so it is difficult to reach the haze prevention standard. Some manufacturers have developed new nano film materials, which are light and thin, and have the advantages of low respiratory impedance, high filtration and high comfort, suitable for children. 1n addition, Japan, Europe and the United States and other countries have already developed special masks suitable for children’s characteristics, which are rich in variety, soft in material and light in shape, and are worthy of our manufacturers’ reference three ways to choose children’s masks to help children prevent the attack of haze parents should do three things well: first, develop the habit of checking PM2.5 value. When it is over 100, let children wear masks instead of cycling or jogging; Over 200, it is best to choose indoor activities to shorten the time out. Anti PM2.5 masks are usually worn for four or five hours, and can’t be cleaned Second, wash the exposed parts of the child’s face with warm water before entering the house, and wash away the tiny particles attached to the skin surface; Clean the nasal cavity with cotton swab; Woolen cloth and knitted materials are the most easily adsorbed particles, which should be taken off for children in time thirdly, most children’s masks are designed for children over 3 years old. 1t is not recommended that the mask should be close to the face of infants under 3 years old. 1nfants with weak lung strength are prone to suffocation and even suffocation< 1n the aspect of purchasing masks, Chen Haida suggested: 1. Children's cardiopulmonary function is still developing. When buying masks, pay attention to check the value of respiratory impedance, and choose the one with low value to prevent children from insufficient blood oxygen concentration due to poor breathing, which may lead to danger. Generally speaking, the respiratory impedance of ordinary melt blown non-woven mask is as high as 120 ~ 250 PA; The respiratory impedance of the new nano film mask is only 60 ~ 70 PA, compared with good air permeability 2. The mask design should be reasonable, in line with the spatial structure of children’s face, so that the mask can fit with children’s face enough to achieve better protection effect 3. Children are lively and active, and the mask should not have plastic or metal nose strips to avoid injury related links haze protection: one thing to go out, four things to go home when it comes to autumn and winter, haze is “rampant”. For haze, daily protection should do four things well: one thing to go out, three things to go home one thing to do when going out: wear a mask and hat. 1t’s better to reduce outdoor activities in haze days, but it’s inevitable to go out, so do one thing well: put on masks and hats< According to Gong Shusheng, director of Otorhinolaryngology Department of Beijing Friendship Hospital, inhalable particles bear the brunt of the impact on respiratory tract, causing cough, expectoration, throat discomfort and other symptoms, inducing or aggravating respiratory tract infection and allergic reactions how to choose a mask? Sun Yang, a researcher at the 1nstitute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the choice of masks can vary according to personal conditions. Some people are sensitive to haze and can choose masks with high filtration efficiency, such as masks that meet the N95 standard, which can basically protect against haze. Some people feel that the N95 mask is quite suffocating and lack of oxygen, which is very uncomfortable. They can choose a mask with low filtration efficiency, which has low respiratory resistance, is more comfortable, and can partially reduce the concentration of inhaled particles. When choosing a mask, it is best to try it on to see if the mask can fit the face well. The arch shape of the mask should not be too big. Turn the head left and right to see if it affects the line of sight when wearing< According to Feng Aiping, chief physician of Dermatology and Venereology Department of Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital, haze days will also affect the skin, affect the oil secretion of the skin, and some people will have skin allergy and other diseases. Therefore, in addition to wearing masks, you can also wear umbrellas, hats and even sunglasses when you go out to reduce the contact of air pollutants with skin and hair and the damage of ultraviolet rays to skin three things to do when you go home: take off your clothes, clean and humidify the air. When you get home in a haze day, you need to do three things: take off your coat, clean, turn on the air purifier and humidifier take off the coat: some coarse particles will stick to the clothes in the haze days. Take off the coat after going out and going home, and clean the clothes in time, which can avoid the secondary pollution to the indoor cleaning skin and nasal cavity: after returning home from haze days, you may as well wash your face with clean water and nasal cavity with normal saline, which can reduce the damage of PM2.5 to skin and respiratory tract. But pay attention not to over wash and apply washing chemicals to avoid secondary damage to skin and respiratory tract humidifying air: turn on the air purifier and humidifier. Humidification of indoor air, on the one hand, is conducive to the precipitation of particulate matter, on the other hand, if the heating is open in winter, the indoor air is too dry, which will cause discomfort in the nasal cavity and throat. Humidifier can also increase the comfort of the body and avoid upper respiratory tract infection