Reducing Environmental Triggers of Asthma in the Home Resources

RETA is a free, 40-minute online training module intended for health care providers such as Public Health Nurses, Certified Asthma Educators, and Community Health Workers. It can be helpful to anyone who wants to learn more on how to identify asthma triggers and how to provide low cost methods to reduce environmental triggers of asthma in the home. The resources below link to additional in-depth information about asthma triggers.

Environmental Triggers

Asthma Triggers

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Controlling Asthma
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Asthma
• Northwest Clean Air Agency: Indoor Air Quality
• Environmental Health Watch: Indoor Asthma Triggers (PDF)

Air Quality

• Air Now Website: Air Quality Index Forecast (US)
• Air Quality and Your Health
• Minnesota Department of Health:
  Air Quality
  Air Quality Tracking Data Portal
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: Air Quality Index
• National Allergy Bureau: Pollen conditions in your area

Chemicals

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Safer Choice

Dust Mites

• American Lung Association: Dust Mites
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Managing Dust Mites (PDF)

Mold and Moisture

• Extension Services University of Minnesota: Mold and Moisture Indoors
• Department of Energy: Moisture Control in Homes
• Minnesota Department of Health - Mold and Moisture 
• Northwest Clean Air Agency:
  Mold in Your Home: Causes, Prevention, and Clean-up (12-minute video/DVD)
  School walk-through, identifying and solving common indoor air quality problems

Pests

• Asthma Regional Council: The Role of Pest Control in Effective Asthma Management: A Business Case
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Pest Control and Pesticide Safety for Consumers
• Environmental Health Watch: Pests and Asthma Resources
• US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD): About Integrated Pest Management

Pets

• Asthma Society of Canada: Pets & Other Animals
• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Pets and Asthma

Secondhand Smoke

• US Surgeon General: Tobacco Reports and Publications
• Live Smoke Free: Smoke-free housing
• Minnesota Department of Health: Tobacco Prevention and Control
• US Government: Quit smoking today! We can help...

Wood Smoke

• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Learn about wood smoke (Burn Wise)
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (PCA):
  Wood smoke in Minnesota
  Wood Smoke- Problems and Complaints in Minnesota

Home Interventions

Allergy-Reducing Products

• Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America:
  Control indoor allergens to improve indoor air quality
  Asthma and allergy friendly certification program
• Cedars-Sinai: Reducing allergens at home
• Mayo Clinic: Allergy-proof your home
• EPA: Air Cleaners and Air Filters in the Home
• California Air Resources Board: Hazardous Ozone-Generating Air Purifiers
• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
  Guide to Air Cleaners in the Home
  Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners
  Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners: An Assessment of Effectiveness and Health Consequences (PDF)

Air Duct Cleaning

• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned?
• National Association of Duct Cleaners: Homeowner's Guide to Air Duct Cleaning

Cleaning, Paints and Household Products

• Environmental Health Perspectives: Greenwashing: Do You Know What You're Buying
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Safer Choice
• Home Free: Product guidance
• New American Dream Consumer Page: Easy ways to make your own cleaning products

Healthy Homes

• Asthma and the Home Environment
• Healthy Homes Minnesota
• National Center for Healthy Housing: Searchable resource library

Mold Mitigation Clean-up

• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Mold cleanup in your home
• National Center for Healthy Housing: Field Guide for Clean-up of Flooded Homes- Creating A Healthy Home
• New York City: Guidelines on Assessment and Remediation of Fungi in Indoor Environments

Structural Problems

• US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD): Do-it-yourself Home Energy Audits
• InspectAPedia: Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair

Vacuum Cleaners

• Consumer Reports for free independent evaluation: Vacuum Cleaner Buying Guide

Ventilation

• Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC): Improving Ventilation in Your Home
• US Department of Energy: Whole-House Ventilation

Checklists for Asthma

Home Environment Assessment Checklist

• Checklist for Home Visitors
• Asthma Home Environment Checklist (PDF)
• Know Your Asthma Triggers  (MDH)
• Clearing the Air: 10 Steps to Making Your Home Asthma-Friendly (Available in English and Spanish)

Home-based Services & Reimbursement

• Strategies for Addressing Asthma in Homes (CDC)
• Case Studies in Healthcare Financing of Healthy Homes Services
• Resident and Homeowner Resources NCHH

Medical Management

Managing Asthma

• Minnesota Department of Health: 
  • Asthma Basics
  • Managing Your Asthma 
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) NAEPP 2007 ERP-3:
  Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (EPR-3)
  2020 Updates

Pediatric Asthma

• Canadian Thoracic Society 2021 Guideline (PDF)
• GINA 2021: the missing pieces in the childhood asthma puzzle
• Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) What’s new in GINA 2021

Contacts

If you have questions about this program, please contact the Minnesota Department of Health’s asthma program at health.asthma@state.mn.us.