What You Can Do to Protect Children from Environmental Risks

EPA welcomes the opportunity to work with other individuals, companies, and organizations to encourage environmentally responsible actions in honor of Children's Health Month.

Help children breathe easier

• Don't smoke and don't let others smoke in your home or car.
• Keep your home as clean as possible. Dust, mold, certain household pests, secondhand smoke, and pet dander can trigger asthma attacks and allergies.
• Limit outdoor activity on ozone alert days when air pollution is especially harmful.
• Walk, use bicycles, join or form carpools, and take public transportation.
• Limit motor vehicle idling.
• Avoid open burning.

Protect children from lead poisoning

• Get kids tested for lead by their doctor or health care provider.
• Test your home for lead paint hazards if it was built before 1978.
• Wash children's hands before they eat; wash bottles, pacifiers, and toys often.
• Wash floors and window sills to protect kids from dust and peeling paint contaminated with lead - especially in older homes.
• Run cold water until it becomes as cold as it can get. Use only cold water for drinking, cooking, and making baby formula.

Keep pesticides and other toxic chemicals away from children

• Store food and trash in closed containers to keep pests from coming into your home.
• Use baits and traps when you can; place baits and traps where kids can't get them.
• Read product labels and follow directions.
• Store pesticides and toxic chemicals where kids can't reach them - never put them in other containers that kids can mistake for food or drink.
• Keep children, toys, and pets away when pesticides are applied; don't let them play in fields, orchards, and gardens after pesticides have been used for at least the time recommended on the pesticide label.
• Wash fruits and vegetables under running water before eating - peel them before eating, when possible.

Protect children from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning

• Have fuel-burning appliances, furnace flues, and chimneys checked once a year.
• Never use gas ovens or burners for heat; never use barbecues or grills indoors or in the garage.
• Never sleep in rooms with unvented gas or kerosene space heaters.
• Don't run cars or lawnmowers in the garage.
• Install in sleeping areas a CO alarm that meets UL, IAS, or Canadian standards.

Protect children from contaminated fish and polluted water

• Be alert for local fish advisories and beach closings. Contact your local health department.
• Take used motor oil to a recycling center; properly dispose of toxic household chemicals.
• Learn what's in your drinking water - call your local public water supplier for annual drinking water quality reports; for private drinking water wells, have them tested annually by a certified laboratory. Call 1-800-426-4791 or contact www.epa.gov/safewater for help.

Safeguard children from high levels of radon

• Test your home for radon with a home test kit.
• Fix your home if your radon level is 4 pCi/L or higher. For help, call your state radon office or 1-800-SOS-RADON.

Protect children from too much sun

• Wear hats, sunglasses, and protective clothing.
• Use sunscreen with SPF 15+ on kids over six months; keep infants out of direct sunlight.
• Limit time in the mid-day sun - the sun is most intense between 10 and 4.

Keep children and mercury apart

• Eat a balanced diet but avoid fish with high levels of mercury.
• Replace mercury thermometers with digital thermometers.
• Don't let kids handle or play with mercury.
• Never heat or burn mercury.
• Contact your state or local health or environment department if mercury is spilled - never vacuum a spill.

To order Tips (5.75" X 9.75" or Growth Chart formats), please call 1-800-490-9198 or order via the Internet at: www.epa.gov/ncepihom. The publication numbers for these documents are:

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Last Modified on Wednesday, October 27th, 2004