A new reason to homeschool - to avoid air pollution

Long, long ago, when Janine and I first started to blog, we were considering writing a book about 101 reasons to homeschool. At the time I had over 60 distinct reasons why parents homeschooled or why they might consider homeschooling.

I was suprised recently to come across yet another reason to homeschool: "To avoid air
pollution."

PhysOrg.com reports that Many US public schools in 'air pollution danger zone'

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One in three U.S. public schools are in the "air pollution danger zone," according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). UC researchers have found that more than 30 percent of American public schools are within 400 meters, or a quarter mile, of major highways that consistently serve as main truck and traffic routes.
Research has shown that proximity to major highways—and thus environmental pollutants, such as aerosolizing diesel exhaust particles—can leave school-age children more susceptible to respiratory diseases later in life.
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It would be nice to know how many homes are within the same 400 meter zones. The study claims that:

"Grinshpun's team found that public school students were more likely to attend schools near major highways compared to the general population."

I would love to know if public schools are ten percent more like to be near major highways than the general population, or double.


A couple years back I remember reading that many schools and hospitals are built on earthquake faults. It appears the driving factor is most families and businesses avoid land on the faults, and so the land is cheaper and often available.

By homeschooling your children they can be exposed to fresh, clean air and be safer from earthquakes.

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