With allergy season upon us, we thought we'd expand on our previous 10 Asthma and Allergy Facts You Should Know post with a bit more background information about asthma and allergies.
What exactly is asthma? According to the American Lung Association, Asthma is characterized by excessive sensitivity of the lungs to various stimuli. Triggers range from viral infections to allergies, irritating gases, or particles in the air. Each person reacts differently to the factors that may trigger asthma, including:
respiratory infections, colds
allergic reactions to allergens such as pollen, mold, animal dander, feathers, dust, food, and cockroaches
exposure to cold air or sudden temperature change
cigarette smoke
excitement/stress
exercise
While there is a wealth of information indicating or suggesting an association between environmental exposures and asthma outcomes, not much is known about what brings upon the change to asthma as opposed to simply an irritation or allergy.
What are allergies? Allergy symptoms occur when the immune system reacts to substances (allergens) that are generally harmless and in most people do not cause an immune response. For someone prone to allergies, their immune systems are super sensitive. Antibodies that build up in an allergy-prone person's system produce histamines and other chemicals to try to counteract the allergens, causing the itchiness, watery eyes, and other irritated symptoms commonly associated with allergies. Thankfully, many indoor air pollutants can be eliminated safely with air purifiers and other indoor air quality solutions.
The mystery behind allergies and asthma is that they could come or go without a moment's notice. Some people experience seasonal allergies every year of their lives. Others don't have any allergy symptoms at all in childhood, only to develop them later as adults for seemingly no reason. Others have them as children and then appear to "outgrow" them. This is what makes studying them so frustrating and so fascinating.
One reason for developing allergies after childhood can actually be one of the topics we've touched on here - Sick Building Syndrome. Being exposed to low to moderate levels of chemicals in "sick buildings" can cause a person to experience symptoms that they never had before, and can leave them very frustrated and confused if they haven't made the connection between their illness and their workplace environment. Mold in the home or office is also a large contributor to seemingly sudden symptoms. Since it can lurk within walls and other non-obvious places, sufferers may go years without proper treatment or identifying the source of the problem.
Are you asthmatic or do you have allergy sufferers in your home or workplace? Try HomeAire's selection of air purifiers and ventilation systems to bring a happy and healthy environment back to the places that you live and work.
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: May 7, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Tags: air purification system, air purifiers, allergy symptoms, asthma and allergies, asthma symptoms, indoor air pollutants, indoor air quality, treating allergies, ventilation system allergies
Filled under: Indoor Air Quality and Allergy
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A Nevada School Board was recently reminded by the US Environmental Protection Agency, in the strongest possible terms, that only an active soil depressurization (ASD) radon system will reduce high radon levels. In response to a letter from the School Board President, EPA's Radon Team Leader Phil Jalbert and Health Physicist Gene Fisher said:
"The EPA does not recommend (air) filtration as a radon control measure," stated EPA Radon Team Leader Phil Jalbert and Health Physicist Gene Fisher. "EPA's principal recommendation for mitigating radon levels in school buildings is to control the source and minimize or prevent radon entry. The technique used most often and successfully is sub-slab or sub-membrane active soil depressurization."
The School Board President wrote to EPA after a local contractor had installed air filters to reduce the radon levels in an elementary school. The filters did not mitigate the radon. This method was used despite the concerns of parents who had researched radon and found that filtration is not the method recommended by EPA for mitigating radon. Read a more detailed account of this story here.
For years, EPA has been clear regarding radon mitigation in homes, schools and all buildings. The proven, most effective method for achieving radon reduction consists of a radon fan connected to suction pipe(s) to draw the radon gas from below the house or school and release it into the outdoor air while simultaneously creating a negative pressure (vacuum) beneath the slab. See EPA's online booklet, "Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction".
To find some solutions for radon mitigation in your own home or office building, please have a look at HomeAire's selection of radon test kits, radon mitigation fans, and other radon informational resources.
Pat Everett
Spruce Environmental Technologies and HomeAire
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: May 2, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Tags: active soil depressurization, radon, radon fan, radon mitigation, radon mitigation fan, radon reduction, radon test kit
Filled under: Radon Testing and Awareness
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You've heard of the Atkin's Diet, the South Beach Diet, even the Cookie Diet, but have you heard of the Hundred Mile Diet? If you're watching your figure and counting calories and carbs, you may not have. This is because the Hundred Mile Diet has nothing to do with focusing on your weight - it has to do with being healthy, supporting local businesses, and helping the environment in the process. As farmers' markets open for the Spring and fresh produce abounds, maybe you'd like to try your hand at the Hundred Mile Diet. It's got 100% guaranteed results, and you'll feel great about it.
So what exactly is the Hundred Mile Diet? It's exactly what it sounds like - purchasing only the produce, meats, and other products grown, harvested, and packaged within 100 miles of your home. Of course, this will be easier for some people to implement than others, depending on your location and the season. But even if you can't contain it to a 100 mile radius, even a 200, 300 or even 500 mile radius is better than nothing!
So how do you transition to the Hudred Mile Diet?
Continue reading "The Hundred Mile Diet - How Buying Locally can Help to Support Local Farmers and the Environment" »
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 30, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Tags: buying locally, eating locally, green living, hundred mile diet
Filled under: Green Living
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You may have read our previous entry, Is Your Home Making You Sick? to learn ways in which you can isolate indoor air quality problems in your home and help you and your family to feel better. Since this is such an important topic that can affect virtually all of us at one point or another, we thought it was important to include some further information on home indoor air quality and the impact that it's having on asthma and allergy rates. The following are 10 facts and figures to help put the seriousness of allergies and asthma into perspective:
In 2004, there were 13.6 million physician office visits and 1 million outpatient department visits due to asthma [alone, this does not count all the allergy visits.] - Centers for Disease Control
According to a 1997 survey data from primary care physicians, 16.9 million office visits were made for sinus problems and nasal congestion, which are symptoms suggestive of, or associated with, allergic rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis itself comprised 7.7 million visits, and related conditions comprised an additional 40.3 million visits. - Medscape
Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, and cost the health care system over $18 billion annually. - National Pharmaceutical Council
Direct health care costs for asthma in the United States total more than $10 billion annually; indirect costs (lost productivity) add another $8 billion for a total of $18 billion. - Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Prescription drugs represented the largest single direct medical expenditure, over $5 billion. - American Lung Association
Nine million U.S. children under 18 have been diagnosed with asthma.
More than 70% of people with asthma also suffer from allergies.
10 million Americans suffer specifically from allergic asthma.
The prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980-1994.
Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994. - American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
For many, these figures are startling. Clearly there is something that is triggering these outbreaks and increases in allergies and asthma. Thankfully, many of the allergy-causing particles in your home can be eliminated with proper use of a HEPA Filtration System or other whole house indoor air quality and air purifying devices.
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 28, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Tags: air purifier, allergy rates, asthma and allergies, asthma rates, asthma statistics, HEPA filtration system, indoor air quality
Filled under: Indoor Air Quality and Allergy
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No, we're not referring to color (necessarily!). We're talking about eco-friendly paints for your home. You may have seen our other blog posts about eco-friendly paints, offering some advice for homeowners or renters looking to bring some color into their home without sacrificing their indoor air quality with harsh chemicals. Now, in addition to some of the smaller specialty paint companies offering environmentally safe paints, Home Depot has introduced a line of eco-friendly paints called "The FreshAire Choice".
According to a Jetson Green article, unlike many other "low-VOC" paints available, the bases and pigments of these paints are actually completely VOC-free. This is great news for allergy sufferers and air quality-conscious people everywhere. By having such a large company offer a safe alternative to traditional house paints, this allows so many more people to have access to these paints, and to be made aware of them in the first place.
Even the packaging on these reasonably priced paints is eco-friendly! With recycled cans and soy-based ink on the labels, the FreshAire Choice paint is going all out for the Earth.
The Jetson Green author does make a good point, though, that even though these are widely available now through Home Depot, this can put other, smaller businesses at a great disadvantage. It's important to remember the social as well as environmental implications of your purchases. That said, this is a great alternative to traditional house paint, and we're excited to see more and more companies jumping on the green bandwagon and taking our health and the health of our planet seriously.
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 22, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Tags: earth friendly paints, eco friendly paints, ecofriendly paint, freshaire choice, freshaire choice paint, home depot paint
Filled under: Green Living
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Looking for ways that you can get involved this Earth Day, and every day? Green Living Ideas has created a wonderful resource of websites that help you find events and activities in your area for the big day.
The EPA has dedicated a nice portion of their website to information about Earth Day, from its history to events in your local area.
If you really want to fully immerse yourself in the Earth Day experience, you can have a look at EarthdayNetwork for full coverage of events and ways you can contribute.
Even if you're not able to participate in any affiliated events or activities in your community on Earth Day, what's important to remember is that, as with many holidays, the real celebration is in holding the spirit of the holiday throughout the year. Instead of putting all of your energy toward 'going green' all at once on Earth Day, enjoy making small changes throughout the year and think of our planet more often. Trying to make too big of a lifestyle change at once can make it difficult to stick to. There are many adjustments that can be made, and it can be easy to become overwhelmed!
Just like with a new exercise routine or a change in the foods you eat, changing your lifestyle for the greener can be very effective as a gradual transformation. It may start with remembering to tuck your empty water bottle in a recycling bin, and then stopping yourself from buying bottled water altogether. Maybe you will begin requesting paper bags at the grocery store instead of plastic, and then eventually purchase your own reusable cloth bags for groceries. You may look toward buying more free-range meats or organic produce, and then may pursue a "100 mile diet", buying more foods from local farms or butchers. It just takes one small step, and another, and another, and before you know it, you've incorporated Earth Day into every day!
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: at 11:14 AM
Tags: celebrating earth day, earth day, earth day events, earth day resources, going green, local earth day activities
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What if you were faced with the following choices? You feel miserable, so you go to your doctor to find out what's wrong with you. The doctor gives you these two options:
- You can undergo a series of tests that will cost a whole lot of money and will probably NOT tell you what's making you feel badly.
- You can take several steps that will cost MUCH less and will probably make you feel better.
If you chose option #2, read on.
We know household contaminants can make people feel really terrible. A lot of people in this country have experienced that. In fact, tens of millions of doctor visits in the U.S. are because of allergy-type symptoms. The amount of money spent on allergy and asthma treatments in this country (in 2002 dollars) was over $7,000,000,000 (7 billion!). The asthma rate is sky-rocketing. People understand that their houses can make them sick.
What we don't know is why-or how. Responsible scientists and epidemiologists (the folks who study patterns of illness) admit they don't know why particular contaminants make some people feel awful. The specialists who have studied this phenomenon all their lives know it occurs, but they still can't explain why some people react to one contaminant and others don't. Or why that same person reacts to the contaminant at one time and not at another. Or why once people have reacted badly to one contaminant, they may begin to react badly to others that are similar (sensitization).
They agree that there is no simple answer and often the causes may be so complex, we may never know why we're "allergic" to things. So, what are we sufferers supposed to do while they're studying this stuff?
Continue reading "Is your Home making you sick?" »
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Tags: asthma and allergies, home allergy symptoms, household chemicals, indoor air pollutants, indoor air quality, mold in the home, testing for mold
Filled under:
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Earth day is coming up on April 22! With so many green living articles, websites, blogs, and ideas surfacing over the past year, it's safe to say that this holiday is going to mean even more this year than ever before. In the spirit of the Earth-Friendly holiday, we at HomeAire are helping spread the word about an important campaign created by EnergyStar called the Change a Light, Change the World campaign.
If you're not already aware, even seemingly small changes in your home can greatly contribute to the health of our planet. The goal of the Change a Light, Change the World campaign is to help motivate you to make these small changes, and to see what big changes can be made as a result of all of us doing our part to put our planet's health at a higher priority in our lives. Are you ready to take the pledge to take action toward a more sustainable future? Or perhaps you'd like to apply to be a local sponsor. There is a form available for that as well.
We're proud to be an EnergyStar Partner at HomeAire, so we know the importance of making a big impact through small, greener changes around the home, and provide a growing number of EnergyStar products to choose from to help you with those changes. If you have a question about our products, please don't hesitate to contact us! And if you have further questions about the EnergyStar Change the World campaign, you can send an email to changetheworld@cadmusgroup.com or visit the EnergyStar Website for more information.
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 18, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Tags: change a light change the world, change the world campaign, earth day, earth day 2008, energy star, energy star partner, energystar, energystar partner, homeaire energy star
Filled under: Green Living
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We're coming up on Earth Day on April 22, so it's the perfect time to take some time to reflect on the greenness of your own life and how you can take immediate action to be more kind to our planet. Georgia Orcutt, an author for The Boston Parents' Paper, has published an article offering a quiz to help homeowners and apartment dwellers asses the 'greenness' of their homes.
The following are the questions from the quiz. Ask yourself some of these questions to see where your home stands on the green scale:
Do your household cleaning products have labels with the words "poison", "danger", "warning", "caution" or other toxic indications? Even artificially scented products can rely on very toxic formulas.
How many water-saving devices do you have in your house/apartment? If you're unsure, keep an eye out for low-flow faucets you could install, eco-friendly showerheads, more modern, water saving toilets, and new dishwashers or washing machines.
What type of lightbulbs do you use? Toss out your incandescent bulbs in favor of the newer compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 66% less energy than incandescent bulbs and generally last about 10 times longer.
Where do you store your reusable grocery shopping bags? Trick question! If you don't have any, it's time to buy some. Many grocery stores offer bags right in the store that you can purchase, or you could use your own totes.
How many plastic water bottles are in your home? Portable water holds a price when you're buying disposable plastic water bottles from the store. Orcutt shows us that the bottled water industry in the U.S. alone uses enough fossil fuel to run 3 million cars for a full year! Time to get out your reusable thermos or sturdy water bottle and fill it up from the tap, with a filter if you like.
What is your first priority when landscaping your yard? Using native plants that thrive in your local environment reduce water and fertilizer costs, and planting a tree will shade your home to reduce your heating and cooling bills year-round. Having a fruit or vegetable or herb garden in your yard is a perfect way to eat locally grown food, and besides, it's fun!
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 16, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Tags: bottled water, CFL lightbulbs, eco-friendly living, green home, green home cleaning products, green living, how green is your home, reusable grocery bags
Filled under: Green Living
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Walk through your home, top to bottom. That means from the attic to the basement (or crawl space). Walk around your home. Do you see anything that might be contributing to poor air in your home?
Are all combustion appliances properly vented?
Do all bathrooms have exhaust fans vented to the outside?
Does the kitchen have an exhaust fan vented to the outside?
Is there indication of water or moisture anywhere in the house?
Is there indication of water or moisture collecting outside of the house?
Is your attached garage vented to the outside?
Do you have collections of stuff piled up or overstuffed storage areas?
Do you have collections of household cleaners or chemicals in your garage or basement or under the kitchen sink?
Is your dryer vented to the outside?
Are your heating/cooling vents clean?
Is your furnace filter new?
When the heat goes on, does it smell "musty" in your house?
Do you have a pet?
Do you have evidence of furry invaders anywhere in your home?
Do you have evidence of non-furry invaders like roaches?
Follow your nose. If something doesn't smell right, it's probably not. If you smell mold, you've got mold. You can't always see it and sometimes you've got it even when you can't smell it. Mold and bacteria create unique odors when they're growing. They grow when they get moisture. So, as soon as the mold or bacteria that's there gets enough moisture, it'll start to grow-AND THEN, you'll be able to smell it.
Trust your nose. It's one of the best detectors available and will lead you to many indoor air problems. And if you're having trouble smelling anything, ask a woman! Livescience.com says "Women have keener whiffers than men."
Trudy Y. Smith
Senior Training Specialist
Spruce Environmental Technologies and HomeAire
Posted by HomeAire Blogging Team
Posted Date: April 11, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Tags: household mold, how to identify mold, indoor air evaluation, indoor air quality, mold and mildew, mold in the home, moldy smell
Filled under: Indoor Air Quality and Allergy
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