Indoor Asthma Triggers: Links and Resources

For more information about asthma and secondhand smoke, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Secondhand Tobacco Smoke and Indoor Air Quality page.

For more information about asthma and mold, see the Michigan Department of Health & Human Service’s All About Mold (pdf).

A healthy home is free of things that can cause health problems or injuries. Dust, mold, pets, roaches, mice, carbon monoxide, fires, smoke and poisons are some of the dangers that can make your home unhealthy. Learn more ways make your house free of things that can cause health problems or injuries.

Read a surveillance brief that summarizes data on triggers such as tobacco smoke, indoor pets, mold and wood burning stoves as well as trigger avoidance behaviors such as no carpeting in bedrooms, use of mattress covers and washing sheets in hot water.

Links and resources for indoor air quality problems related to the home

USEPA’s Introduction to Indoor Air Quality.

USEPA’s booklet The Inside Story on improving indoor air quality can also assist in selecting building materials to minimize indoor air irritants and allergens that may asthma symptoms.

When remodeling the home, do not forget to consider indoor air quality. The USEPA offers some helpful tips at the following web sites:

• Remodeling Your Home? Have You Considered Indoor Air Quality?
• Heath’s Home Remodeling Information Sheet