Clearing the Air: 10 Steps to Making Your Home Asthma-Friendly
This short step-by-step guidance provides helpful hints for comprehensive asthma management. (available
here as Adobe Acrobat PDF files in English
[EPA 402-F-04-017 May 2004] and
Spanish [EPA 402-F-04-018
May 2004])
Asthma Fact Sheet
The Asthma Fact Sheet highlights most up-to-date asthma statistics. (available
here as Adobe Acrobat PDF files in
English [EPA
402-F-04-019, May 2004] and
Spanish [EPA
402-F-04-020 May 2004])
Dusty The Asthma Goldfish and His Asthma Triggers Funbook
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  Check out EPA's new Dusty The Asthma Goldfish and His Asthma Triggers Funbook.
This is an educational tool to help parents and children learn more
about asthma triggers. Available as an adobe acrobat PDF -
dustythegoldfish_en.pdf (1.06MB file)
[EPA 402-F-04-008 February 2004]
PARA PADRES E HIJOS -
�chele un vistazo a la nueva revista de mu�equitos del EPA,
Dusty La Carpa Dorada del Asma y Sus Provocadores de Asma.
La revista es una herramienta educacional para
ayudar a padres e hijos a conocer m�s sobre las cosas que provocan
los ataques de asma. Disponible en Ingl�s y Espa�ol
dustythegoldfish_sp.pdf
[EPA 402-F-04-009 February 2004] |
Asthma Program Poster: Improving Health Outcomes for People with Asthma
The Indoor Environments Asthma Program is increasing public awareness and action to manage environmental asthma triggers so people with asthma
can reduce asthma attacks, emergency room visits, and missed school/work days, and lead fuller lives. This poster highlights improvements in health
outcomes resulting from interventions to manage asthma triggers in the home.
The poster is available here as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file -
science_forum_poster.pdf
Asthma Home Environment Checklist
As part of EPA's nationwide asthma public education and outreach
program, the Agency is working with the healthcare community to
improve the quality of care for children with asthma by
incorporating environmental controls into comprehensive asthma
management programs (AMPs). Home visits, a component of many
comprehensive AMPs, are one way to give children and their families
the tools they need to effectively address asthma through medical
and environmental management techniques. To help ensure
incorporation of environmental controls into home visit programs,
EPA has developed an Asthma Home Environment Checklist. This
checklist contains questions and action steps to assist in the
identification and mitigation of environmental asthma triggers
commonly found in and around the home. The Agency has taken care to
recommend mitigation activities that are generally simple and low
cost. Download the Checklist here (an 81KB Adobe
Acrobat PDF file -
home_environment_checklist.pdf) [EPA 402-F-03-030
February 2004]
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Working Together: So Everyone Can Breathe Better
Partner with us to improve asthma management
[EPA 402-F-03-004 April 2003] |
Asthma Newsletter
This newsletter highlights outreach and education
efforts related to EPA's Asthma Initiative. You will read about
partnerships, World Asthma Day 2002 activities, a successful media
campaign, and much more [a 83KB Adobe Acrobat PDF file -
asthma_bulletin_03_04_03.pdf] [EPA 402-F-02-036
December 2002].
Clearing the Air of Indoor Asthma Triggers
This one page pdf file (program_overview.pdf)
provides a quick overview to EPA's Indoor Environments Division's
Asthma Management Program [EPA 402-F-02-028]
Free Online Continuing Medical Education Program -- The Environmental Management of Asthma
Physicians and allied health professionals may now take advantage of a free online course on environmental management of asthma by visiting:
www.aaaai.org
Sponsored by the American Association of Health Plans/Health Insurance Association of America (AAHP/HIAA) and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), the program is
designed to equip the medical community and health plans with resources to incorporate environmental management into asthma disease management programs and clinical
practices, and to create standards of care for asthma patients.
For more information, please visit AAAAI's Professionals Center
www.aaaai.org
.
This course was developed under Cooperative Agreement No.
X-83035201 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The views expressed in this training module do not necessarily represent EPA policy.
 Also available in PDF - asthma.trifold.pdf
- 244 KB file. [EPA 402-F-99-005, July 1999]
Also available in Chinese [EPA 402-F-99-005A, September 1999];
Korean [EPA 402-F-99-005C, September 1999]; and, Vietnamese [EPA
402-F-99-005B, September 1999]
Mantenga su hogar libre de los factores que
pueden provocar el asma ¡Sus niños respirarán mejor!
 (asthma.trifold.spanish.pdf
- 280 KB PDF file) [EPA 402-F-99-005D, July 1999]
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IAQ Tools for
Schools - Managing Asthma in the School Environment Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in the United States affecting about 15 million people of all ages and races, particularly
children. Nearly one in 13 school-aged children has asthma, and the percentage of children with asthma is rising more rapidly in
preschool-aged children than in any other age group. Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to a chronic illness,
accounting for over 10 million missed school days per year. Asthma also accounts for many nights of interrupted sleep, limitation of
activity, and disruption of family and care-giver routines. Asthma symptoms which are not severe enough to require a
visit to an emergency room or to a physician can still be serious enough to prevent a child with asthma from living a fully active life.
This document is available in HTML
www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/asthma and as an Adobe Acrobat PDF
file [10ways_asthma.pdf].
[EPA 402-K-00-003, May 2000] |
Case Study: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
[Posted May 5, 2003] As part of EPA's asthma program, we support performance-based pilot studies that create and implement in-home
asthma intervention programs through the Community-Based In-Home Asthma Environmental Educational and Management Grants.
EPA plans to highlight program successes through a series of case studies. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia case study--the first in a
series---is intended to offer providers, health insurers, public health departments, and community-based organizations an overview of
an asthma in-home intervention. Available in a PDF file, the case study can be downloaded here
[casestudy_philadelphia.pdf].
Los Trucos del FantASMA del Asma
 The National Council of La Raza's (NCLR) Institute for Hispanic Health (IHH) is proud to announce its new children�s storybook, Los Trucos del FantASMA del Asma.
Developed in Spanish, this educational family story chronicles with amazing illustrations and a catchy storyline the antics of the devious FantASMA del asma
(asthma phantom) and the adverse respiratory effects it has on a young asthmatic boy named Vin. The FantASMA literally symbolizes the asthma triggers that
can be found in the home to which the Torres family has recently moved. While Vin�s parents are unpacking, the FantASMA convinces Vin to play hide-and-seek
with him. The phantom magically proceeds to transform himself into several different asthma triggers, causing the boy to become sick. By the story�s end,
Vin and his parents have made changes in the maintenance of their home and are finally able to expel the FantASMA del Asma.
Contact NCLR for information on how to get copies.
For more information on how to view or how to order this
storybook, go to
www.nldi.org/
Asthma Speaker's Kit
 You can download an Adobe Acrobat version of EPA's slide show
presentation about asthma and the top indoor asthma triggers (trnmod.pdf
a 1.2 MB file) or you
can order the kit from
IAQINFO. This
25-slide presentation, complete with speakers notes, is designed for
giving talks to a general public audience, and provides basic
information about how to reduce exposures to the top indoor asthma
triggers.
Available on CD-Rom from IAQ INFO [EPA 402-C-01-002, January 2001]
 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to undertake an assessment of the role of indoor air quality in the growing asthma problem. EPA asked NAS to characterize the state of the science on health impacts and prevention strategies, and to provide recommendations on needed research. In response to this request, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine has issued a report, Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures, on the role of indoor environmental pollutants in the development and exacerbation of asthma. The report affirms the Administrator's asthma initiative to educate the public about the ways they can help control asthma by managing indoor air quality. The report concludes that exposure to indoor pollutants is an important contributor to the asthma problem in this nation. Asthma sufferers should consult with their doctor about reducing their exposure to secondhand smoke, dust mites, pet dander, molds, and cockroaches. For more information, read our brochure Clear Your Home of Asthma Triggers: Your Children Will Breathe Easier
(HTML | PDF)
(also available in
Spanish a 280KB PDF file) or call our Indoor Air Quality
(IAQINFO) hotline at 1-800-438-4318.
A full copy of the NAS report is available at
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9610.html.
You can also download an Adobe Acrobat version of a MS Powerpoint slideshow
highlighting the conclusions of the NAS Report "Clearing the Air: Asthma
and Indoor Air Exposures." (nas_report_for_web.pdf
a 121KB file).
You can view EPA's educational
video on reducing your exposure to asthma triggers in the home, entitled, "Health
at Home: Controlling Asthma Triggers." This video was developed
by the American Lung Association of Eastern Missouri with funds from the
EPA. The video gives an overview of what current research has shown to
be the most effective methods of reducing levels of secondhand smoke and
allergens from dust mites, cockroaches, molds, and pets in your home. Studies
have shown that many asthmatics are sensitive to these substances and health
improvements may result from their effective control in the home. Click
here to go to www.AsthmaMoms.com
Click on VIDEO on the top menu
bar to go to the EPA video.
For more information available on Environmental
Tobacco Smoke (ETS), also known as secondhand smoke (SHS) (epa.gov/smokefree/)
For more information about improving indoor air quality in
schools (epa.gov/iaq/schools)
Including the EPA publication "Managing
Asthma in the School Environment"
EPA has most of it's Indoor Air Quality-specific publications available. See (epa.gov/iaq/pubs/) for an indexed list
of HTML (and, in some cases, PDF) versions of our IAQ-related publications.
EPA's America's Children and the Environment website
A valuable resource for children's environmental health is
available online at www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children.
The America's Children and the Environment website presents data and discussion on information for environmental contaminants and children's health and is based on the report America's Children and the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens and Illnesses.
Children's Environmental
Health Legislation Database
Six states have or are
considering legislation to promote awareness of asthma, while
17 states are looking at reducing the risk of mercury contamination says
an online database from the National Conference of State Legislatures
(NCSL). From lead hazards to
pesticides, NCSL has created a searchable online database of children's
environmental health legislation. The database provides users with free
access to legislation from every state that addresses children's
environmental health. Users can search for bills about indoor air
quality, mercury, lead hazards, pesticides, asthma and others that cover
environmental concerns that affect children's health. The resulting
information provides the user with bill numbers and title, brief
summaries, bill status, author and introduction date. The database is a
cooperative effort between NCSL and EPA's
Office of Children's Health Protection. It can be accessed at www.ncsl.org/programs/ESNR/cehdb.htm
Department of Health and Human Services,
National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Coordination of Federal Asthma Activities - The Children's Health Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-310) requires the Director
of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), through the
National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) Coordinating
Committee (CC), to identify all federal programs that carry out
asthma-related activities, develop a federal plan for responding to
asthma, and submit recommendations to the Congress on ways to strengthen
and improve coordination of asthma-related activities of the federal
government. The following report has been prepared by the Federal
Liaison Group on Asthma (FLGA), a subcommittee of the NAEPP-CC, with
coordination by the NHLBI. The report was submitted to the members of
the full NAEPP-CC, and comments received from them have been
incorporated. The Executive Summary can be viewed at:
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/resources/docs/asth01rpt.htm
where you can download PDF files of the report.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/asthma/
These indoor air quality publications are also available through the IAQ INFO
Clearinghouse.
IAQ INFO
P.O. Box 37133,
Washington, DC 20013-7133
1-800-438-4318/703-356-4020
(fax) 703-356-5386
iaqinfo@aol.com
or, you can order these publications directly via EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) (http://www.epa.gov/ncepihom/).
web site. Your publication requests can also be mailed, called or faxed directly to:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 42419
1-800-490-9198/(513) 489-8695 (fax)
Please use the EPA Document Number, which is usually bolded or highlighted, when ordering from NSCEP or from IAQ INFO.
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