The holiday season may not be “the most wonderful time of the year” for children who have asthma, or environmental allergies. There are a lot of allergens in the air, and in your home, due to the way we celebrate Christmas. Parents who are aware of these allergy and asthma triggers might be able to prevent their child from having a severe reaction.
Oh, Christmas tree! How lovely are your branches. How abundant are the allergens you put into air! The Christmas tree that is sitting inside your living room might be the source of your child’s allergy or asthma symptoms, especially if it happens to be a real tree.
If your child is allergic to pine, then he or she could be reacting to the tree itself, (even if the tree is spruce, or fir, or some other type of evergreen). The same is true for real wreaths, and for bundles of boughs that came from the branches of real trees. This is the type of allergy that can lead to an asthma attack.
This is the time of year when stores, (including your local grocery store), carry products that are pine scented. You might not notice a strong pine scent when you first walk into the store. However, that scent has been scattered into the air inside the store since those products first hit the shelves, (back in October). Since most stores are not ventilated very well, this could cause problems for kids who are allergic to pine.
Real Christmas trees also contain mold and mildew, which can cause an allergy or asthma attack for kids who have mold allergies. According to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, you can reduce the amount of mold on a Christmas tree by wiping down the trunk with a bleach solution, and allowing it to dry, before you bring the tree into your house.
While I am on the subject of real trees, I’d like to bring your attention to real poinsettias. The Asthma and Allergy Health Site points out that poinsettia plants, lovely as they may be, could trigger an allergic reaction in children and adults who have latex allergies.
What about artificial trees? They may or not be safe, depending on how they were stored. A fake tree that has been sitting in the garage for an entire year will have collected up plenty of dust. Kids that have an allergy to dust mites are going to experience symptoms as soon as this dust coated tree comes into your house.
Christmas ornaments, and other decorations, may also be coated with dust. One way to avoid this problem is to store them in an air tight, sealed box, that has had its lid securely closed while being stored. If not, then parents may need to carefully remove all the dust from each and every ornament before bringing any of them into the house.
Do you have a real fireplace? Those logs can trigger allergies for some kids. It is likely that the wood contains mold spores, which will go into the air when the wood is burned. The particular type of wood that you choose to burn can be problematic if your child has an allergy to that type of tree.
Image by starshaped on Flickr