A number of asthma triggersare associated with excess moisture, including house dust mites, mold and cockroaches.
Read Jim LaRue’s Home Moisture Audit, a step-by-step guide for diagnosing moisture problems in the home.
Moisture Reduction Projects
- The Cuyahoga County Urban Mold & Moisture Program (UMMP) explored the relationship between mold, moisture, asthma triggers and the respiratory health of children living in inner city neighborhoods throughout Greater Cleveland. Homes received environmental interventions focused on the reduction of water infiltration, removal of water damaged building materials, HVAC alterations, lead hazard control, and environmental cleaning.
- Reduction in Asthma Morbidity in Children as a Result of Home Remediation Aimed at Moisture Sources, Environmental Health Perspectives (pdf – 7 pgs.)
- Visual Assessment and Testing Forms
- Urban Mold & Moisture Control Interventions Report
- Intervention Slide Presentation
- Intervention Slide Handouts
- Five Year Follow-up Study
- The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Healthy House Initiative (CCHHI) integrated weatherization and healthy house interventions and further refined the moisture interventions developed in the Urban Mold and Moisture Project.
Moisture Resources
- Damp Indoor Spaces and Health (2004), by the Institute of Medicine, examines the relationship between damp or moldy indoor environments and adverse health outcomes, discusses how and where buildings get wet, how dampness influences microbial growth and chemical emissions, the ways to prevent and remediate dampness, and the elements of a public health response to the issues.
- SOEH Report: “Mold-Related Health Effects: Clinical, Remediation Worker Protection, and Biomedical Research Issue
- The New England Asthma Regional Councilhas a useful document entitled Healthy and Affordable Housing: Practical Recommendations for Building, Renovating, and Maintaining Housing to help homeowners reduce the impact of home pollutants such as moisture on persons with asthma.
Asthma Homepage
