Teach your children what we have taught our children.
That the Earth is our Mother.
Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons of the Earth.
Man did not weave the web of life.
He is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
~ Chief Seattle (1854).
Allergy and Environmental Health Association |
Chemical Production |
Toxins/Irritants/Sensitizers |
Ventilation |
Allergy and Environmental
Health Association
Who are we?
Our goal
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The Allergy and Environmental Health Association (AEHA) is a national, self-help,
registered charity, operated by volunteers, with branches across Canada. Together we strive to:
Hold meetings and workshops for mutual support and education.
Publish national and branch newsletters with information on:
Allergies, environmental sensitivities and related health issues;
Product information and sources;
Recommendations for healthy living;
National and local activities; and
Environmental concerns.
Provide information on tolerated sources of food, water, clothing,
personal and home care products, home furnishings and building materials.
Promote awareness among individuals, communities, schools,
corporations and governments of environmental conditions harmful to human and global health.
Our goal in this document is to improve the environment of learning. Indoor air
quality, lighting, electromagnetic radiation, temperature and humidity all affect learning. It is
hoped that sharing our experience will help school boards ensure clean, safe environments for all
students and staff.
The Environment of Learning
How school boards can help
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It is conservatively estimated that at least 15 per cent of our population have
been sensitized to environmental agents and experience associated reactions.
People with environmental sensitivities suffer often disabling reactions to
substances in our air, water and food at levels that are presently considered acceptable for the
general population. Heightened rates of off-gassing of volatile organic compounds from many building
materials currently in use in newly constructed and remodelled facilities are particularly problematic.
Indoor environments affect human health, behaviour and learning ability.3
A growing number of this population have asthma, with many of the new cases being
young children who react adversely to environmental pollutants.
Chemical Production
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Note: the data for this graph was taken from Ashford and Miller's Chemical
Exposures: Low Levels and High Stakes.
Childhood asthma affects 10–12 per cent of Canadian children,
with 80 per cent of them being young children. Asthma is the principal cause of school absences
attributable to chronic diseases in childhood, accounting for 20 per cent of school days lost in
elementary and high schools. Acute asthma is the most common medical emergency in children and is
responsible for increasing death rates.4
In 1989, there were over 34,000 admissions to Canadian hospitals for the treatment of asthma in
children under 15 years of age. In that year on an average day, hospitals admitted more than 93 children for the
treatment of asthma. The increasing annual costs of asthma in Canada passed the $600 million mark by
1990.5
Children are "especially susceptible to air pollution" according to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency:
"The same concentration of pollutants will result in a higher body burden in
children than adults because children breathe a greater volume of air relative to their body weight.
For this and other reasons, air quality in schools is of particular concern.6
In addition, children's immature detoxification systems are much less able to
eliminate these contaminants.
Ventilation
ASHRAE Standard 62–1989
accepts adverse health effects for
20%
of a healthy adult population
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One of the benchmarks used to assess indoor air quality in our schools –
ASHRAE Standard 62–19897 – is
based on the premise that 20 per cent of a healthy adult population will react adversely at the levels
set by the standard. These standards are inadequate for children with environmental sensitivities and
probably for the general population of school children as well since children are far more sensitive
than adults to contaminants.
Many children are presently missing school days because of inadequate environments
in our schools. Failing to provide good indoor environments in our schools means that some children
lack equal access to programs and services. If we fail to accommodate those with environmental
sensitivities in our schools, we also isolate them socially.
Toxins/Irritants/Sensitizers
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including those found in scented products
Bacteria, fungi, moulds, dusts and dust mites
Building materials containing VOCs, including carpets
Paints, waxes and cleaning products
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Pesticides, bactericides, herbicides and fungicides
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Fuels (e.g., propane, natural gas, gasoline, oil, etc.)
Lead, radon, asbestos
Pets, plants
Electromagnetic radiation
Foods
Other substances not normally thought of as noxious
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Indoor air pollution is a serious environmental health problem since people
spend over 90 per cent of their time indoors.8 Contaminants can be up to 100 per cent higher
indoors.9 The World Health Organization estimates that 30 per cent of homes and
buildings today contain enough indoor pollutants to cause health affects that range from a sniffle
to more serious health problems.
"Environmental sensitivity should be considered as a possible contributing
factor in a learning or behavioural exceptionality."
Marion Boyd
Ontario Minister of Education, 1991
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Both former Ontario Ministers of Education Marion Boyd and Tony Silipo have
supported the need for alternative learning environments for students with environmental sensitivities.
In summary, it is important that we protect the quality of our environment.
The persons served by school boards – children – are the most vulnerable group in society
and our country's most important resource. School boards must address the needs of all children,
including those with environmental sensitivities, such as asthma, allergies and multiple chemical
sensitivities.
