Research Project
9905210
Project Summary Environmental risk factors are attributable to ~50% of the chronic respiratory disease burden in the U.S. and to ~10-15% of the burden from other non-communicable diseases (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes). Exposure to environmental risk factors occurs through various forms of water and air pollution, with a smaller attribution to sources like noise, radiation, and physical hazards. Much of this exposure occurs at home, where people spend 70% of their lives. Yet, the notion that your home should be good for your health is often taken for granted. Homes can be significant sources of harmful pollutant exposure. Indoor levels of established and emerging pollutants, including carcinogens, endocrine-disrupting compounds, criteria air pollutants, and harmful microbes, are often elevated relative to levels measured outside the home. These exposures are important determinants of non-communicable diseases and they are magnified by racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequalities that prevail across the country. Thus, there is a growing need for accessible environmental testing tools and educational programs to create awareness and inspire change in living conditions for improved long-term health. The cost and complexity of existing environmental measurement technologies are in large part why the average household, especially minority or socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, are unaware of the environmental stressors in their place of residence. This Phase I proposal will develop and demonstrate a novel and inexpensive environmental home assessment tool (Home Health Box) for measuring air and water quality in homes. The Home Health Box is a sensor and sample collection system that can be deployed by the home occupant quickly, simply, and with minimal effort. Analysis will include environmental stressors in air (particulate matter, black carbon, metals, volatile organics, mold/bacteria) and water (residual chlorine, metals, bacteria). After constructing and testing the boxes we will deploy them across minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged homes in Fort Collins, CO. Measurement data will be communicated back to the home occupant (with an emphasis on culturally-sensitive design of communications). The Home Health Box will empower individuals to understand, recognize, and mitigate environmental hazards in the home ? a place where the majority of exposure tends to occur. Two aims are proposed: (1) Develop a simple, portable sampling and sensor system to quantify environmental stressors using a citizen-science approach and (2) demonstrate performance and value of the Home Health Box concept in a pilot field study of racial and ethnic minority residents in Fort Collins, Colorado.
