Equipping and Inspiring Communities to Improve Indoor Air Quality Now and for Generations to Come
October is National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month, and NCHH and RAMP are pleased to announce the launch of two initiatives for improved indoor air quality.
by Laura Fudala
Did you know that Americans spend up to 90% of their time indoors, largely at home, where they may be exposed to common indoor air contaminants including radon, pesticides, a variety of environmental asthma triggers, VOCs, and combustion by-products (such as carbon monoxide [CO] and nitrogen dioxide [NO2])?1, 2, 3
And because of these types of environmental exposures, did you know that there’s a potential for increased health risks such as respiratory illnesses, heart conditions, and cancers? Many communities are already taking action to improve indoor environments; others are interested in taking a first step but may be unsure of how and where to start. NCHH and some of our key partners are ready to help!
In observation of National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month (October), NCHH is excited to announce the launch of two projects, supported under cooperative agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and implemented in partnership with our good friends at Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP), dedicated to reducing indoor air risks.
New Initiatives
The first of the two projects is a brand-new flexible coaching and assistance initiative to support communities in taking systems-level action to comprehensively reduce indoor air risks, Building Systems to Improve Indoor Air Quality; the other is a continuation of a previous initiative focused environmental asthma triggers, Building Systems to Sustain Home-Based Asthma Services. Both initiatives are dedicated to celebrating, mapping, and spreading successful policies and systems; instigating new communities to take action; and encouraging communities to move up the ladder of engagement, taking actions that achieve cross-sector partnerships and put sustainable, systems-level policies and programs in place.
Over the next three years, NCHH, RAMP, and other expert partners will be working collaboratively to fill resource gaps, support peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange, and provide flexible, customized coaching and technical assistance. We’ll be adding new information to our e-learning platform and our website’s technical assistance and coaching section soon. In the meantime, there’s a lot we can do together!
Let Us Help
Do you have a success story to share about how you are working to improve indoor air quality in your community? Are you working through a challenge or next step related to one of the many facets of building sustainable systems to address radon, provide home-based asthma services, and/or conduct comprehensive indoor air risk reduction? We can amplify your success, share feedback, provide successful (or not!) peer examples, or even just be a friendly ear. Contact us today to learn more about how we can celebrate where you are now and help you get to where you want to be.
References
1 Klepeis, N. E., Nelson, W. C., Ott, W. R., Robinson, J. P., Tsang, A. M., Switzer, P., et al. (2001). The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): A resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. Retrieved from https://indoor.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl-47713.pdf
2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2016, May). The inside story: A guide to indoor air quality. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/inside-story-guide-indoor-air-quality
3 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, March 25). Most recent asthma data. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_data.htm
Laura Fudala, project manager, joined NCHH in January 2014 as a project coordinator to provide a wide variety of coordination, research, writing, and support functions on multiple NCHH projects. She currently manages a New York State Department of Health contract and an EPA cooperative agreement that together provide coordination, evaluation, technical, training, and/or programmatic support for healthy homes stakeholders such as the New York State Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention Program and those working to support the launch and growth of large-scale, evidence-based, sustainable asthma home visiting programs.