My son's new school has been severely triggering my asthma even just during brief drop offs and pick ups.
My usual triggers are cats, dogs, and dust. There are no animals in the school and it is quite clean.
In the past, I have had flare ups from mold so it could be that. It is also possible they are using a strong cleaning agent that is very irritating to my lungs.
Has anyone ever encountered an irritant in a public building kind of environment like a school that caused their asthma to flare that I might not be thinking of?
Thanks so much in advance for any insight you may have-
Written by
hilary39
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I do think the kids and parents probably do bring in pet hair on their clothes but I don't think that's the issue as my son was in similar environment at a big daycare with a bunch of families the past two years and I was fine.
I don't know how to explain it but I feel like it's more of an irritant than an allergy if that makes sense. Like my lungs felt "burnt" after a week of going in and out every day.
Thanks for your input It's so helpful to crowdsource here from fellow people who are also triggered by seemingly harmless things.
The burning sensation in your lungs sounds like it could be a cleaning chemical that is irritating your lungs. Does the cleaning person use things like D10 surfactant spray? Or other chemicals like that. Some places use a liquid air freshener too.
Honestly I would not bother telling them about it, they are unlikely to change anything. And even if they wanted to, it will be hard to find what it is. My previous work place, which had load of money, was very accommodating, so they ran mass-spectroscopy of the air (!), it was like a 2K test. Not much identified; the usual suspects (that are regulated by the govt, like formaldehyde) were low. Limonene (a detergent, I believe) was very prevalent, they use it in cleaning agents. So I just wore my charcoal-impregnated mask everywhere, and that's that. Eventually I found that I was getting sick next to a particular kind of (fancy Danish) furniture.
No, I worked there just fine, just wore the mask everywhere. It surely prepared me for COVID. I figured, every place will have something that sets me off, so I might as well find a way to deal with it
Hi Hilary, you're not alone. I work in a school and sometimes (rarely) they use such strong cleaning products that I can feel my lungs start to twitch. Not sure what you can do about the situation, maybe an extra puff before drop off/pick up. I've found it's often sprays they use, react in a similar way to deodorant sprays.
Others bring up good points -- cleaning agent (bleach?), carpets, new furniture. I could not work in my previous work place b.c. they had fancy furniture that had some glue component (maybe). So I had to wear a charcoal-impregnated mask while at work at all times (10 years before covid struck).
I worked next to a canteen where they used strong chlorine cleaner. Could it be that. Or I recently found that I am very allergic to limolene, which caused me skin problems and is mentioned above.
Yup, for me I figure it’s dander transfer from the pets people have at home. My children take their uniforms off at the door when they return home and it all gets washed straight away. We wipe all bags/belongings on return to the house too.
It is worth you reading up about indoor air pollution. Certainly cleaners can contribute to it but so can many other things. Indoor air pollution is one of the things that can be triggers for me. far more than traffic outside. Someone above mentioned a kind of mask that is seemingly particularly effective. Perhaps that is worth thinking about. Is your son’s school in a new build? Modern building materials can make it worse. Obviously there is nothing you can change about all this, but worth being aware of.
My son developed an allergic reaction to dust mites and had to work from home (he works for a University. Another throught is that the fumes and pollution from other cars might excerbate asthma. Cars waiting while children get into or out of a car with their engines ticking over give off a lot of exhaust fumes. If that is the case the shcool may be prepared to ask parents to turn engines of as it will invisibly affect children's lungs.
Strong chemicals such as new paint, floors which have been 'polished' over the summer can all be possible culprits.
What type of heating does the school use? If there is a chimney is that giving off any type of smoke?
Hope you manage to work out what it is and find a way of managing. Having said that the best way is to avoid it if possible. If you notice it is worse some days than others, might be worth speaking to the teacher to see if there are days the caretaker / cleaners use particular chemicals. There will be children in the school with asthma and they may be able to use alternatives.
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