Allergen Levels in Inner City Homes: Baseline Concentrations and Evaluation of Intervention Effectiveness

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adgate JL ; Cho SJ ; Grengs J ; Ramachandran G ; Ryan, Andrew D.
• Description:
  Allergens in house dust are risk factors for asthma causation and exacerbation, and asthma interventions often focus on exposure reduction using methods that may not be sustainable over time in low-income communities. A randomized controlled trial with up to six home visits was used to evaluate the effectiveness of two interventions focused on reducing dust loading and allergen concentrations in 47 low-income inner-city households in Minneapolis, MN. The interventions, which included education and relatively inexpensive cleaning procedures, were developed using a community-based participatory consultation process with focus groups held in English, Somali, and Spanish to incorporate community feedback from participants into protocols and study design decisions. Change in levels of cat, cockroach, dust mite, and culturable fungi as well as overall dust loading were evaluated by measuring the difference in concentrations before and after the cleaning intervention, and mixed models were used to assess the effect of education and cleaning on baseline allergen levels during the final three home visits. The cleaning intervention significantly lowered dust loading in all households and culturable fungi levels in single family homes, reduced cat allergen concentrations in homes with cats, but had no significant effect on cockroach allergen levels. The cleaning intervention also modestly decreased the frequency of observed allergen concentrations above suggested health benchmarks for cat, cockroach, and fungi. The cleaning and education interventions had similar effects on baseline allergen levels measured during subsequent home visits; both interventions significantly reduced baseline levels of cat and fungal allergens observed in pre-cleaning samples, but had no significant effect on cockroach allergen levels. Overall, the cleaning intervention modestly reduced potential exposure to risk factors associated with asthma mortality and morbidity in a way that can be implemented by most homeowners or renters, independent of education, income, or the ability to speak English. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Education Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Hazardous Substances Hypersensitivity Inhalation Exposure Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Allergic-reactions Allergies Author Keywords: Asthma Biohazards Biological-effects Dust-measurement Dust-velocity Environmental-exposure Environmental-hazards Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Exposure Assessment Inhalants Inhalation-studies Intervention Lung-disorders Particle-aerodynamics Particle-counters Particulate-dust Particulates Physiological-effects Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-system-disorders Quantitative-analysis Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis

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• ISSN:
  1559-0631
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  430-440
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037442
• Citation:
  J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2008 Jul; 18(4):430-440
• Contact Point Address:
  John L Adgate, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Room 1260 Mayo, 420 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
• Email:
  jadgate@umn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:21396dc67f78a2e4262a91df5815def26026f78a05a6a0dbdbd6ad0d83422dbd96d28b32cdc6e3a4ace1e2a346316fee9708675d5f887ee5e56e96a02266923e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188538/cdc_188538_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 195.99 KB ]