What is a healthy house?
Housing health hazards
Moisture and mold
Pests & Pesticides - both not healthy
Household products and building materials
Household hazardous waste disposal
Prompts for healthy habits
Kitchen smoke is a leading cause of death in developing countries
Links to more information

Healthy Houses/Sustainable Communities/Livable Planet

People living in cities spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, where pollutant exposures are commonly many times higher than outdoors. Environmental scientists consistently prioritize the indoor environment as the source of hazards of significant public health concern. Young children adn teh eldery are especially at risk for housing-related illnesses due to both higher exposures and greater vulnerability. These health concerns are associated with exposure to lead contaminated dust and soil, asthma allergen sources (mold, roaches, rodents, pets), respiratory irritants (combustion gases and particles from tobacco smoke, heating and cooking), and toxic chemicals (pesticides, buidling materials, consumer products). T

The hazards for low-income people, living in substandard, deteriorating housing are particularly serious. Dilapidated housing also jeopardizes housing affordability, predominantly because of greater electricity, natural gas, water, and hazard control costs.

Beyond the dwelling unit, community design affects health (promotion of walking, bike riding, parks), safety (street level activity, visibility) and social cohesion (opportunities for interaction). Environmental design and neighborhood programs suggest positive outcomes on health and general wellbeing. Many community projects, like the ones mentioned above, are likely to have constructive spillover effects on community health.

More broadly yet, there are environmental impacts of energy use, transportation modes, building materials and waste disposal/recycling practices. These choices can threaten or enhance human health and the health of the planet pollution levels and climate change.

More about putting neighborhoods on the path to healthy, green affordable housing

Majority of U.S. Families Live with Health and Safety Risks at Home
The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) recently published a State of Healthy Housing Report which ranks housing conditions in major metropolitan areas across the Nation. The report shows that Cleveland has a relatively high percentage of homes with issues that are considered unhealthy or dangerous. The most common problems in Cleveland relate to water leaks, damaged roofs, and pest control issues. All signs point to a poor and unattractive housing stock in the city. However, in light of these troubling findings, the solutions are not only manageable but will also work to improve the health of the occupants.
- NCHH Report
- Cleveland ranking
- Plain Dealer article   

Building Strategic Alliances for Healthy Housing:
In September 2009, EHW received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control to engage stakeholders to integrate Healthy Housing considerations into the wide range of housing decisions and actions throughout the house life cycle. Alliances for Healthy Housing abstract

What is a healthy house?

A healthy house is:

• Dry (moisture is controlled to lessen mold, dust mites, paint failure, pests and out-gassing)
• Well-ventilated (dirty air is exhausted and diluted)
• Free from:
  1. Combustion by-products (through properly working flues, chimney, and kitchen exhaust fans)
  2. Pests and pesticides (through integrated pest management to control pests and pesticide exposure)
  3. Lead hazards (through lead-safe maintenance, repair and renovation)
  4. Other contaminants (through careful selection of building materials and consumer products) 
• Clean and uncluttered (in order to reduce contaminant build up in dust, make cleaning easier and remove hiding places for pests)

Resources for building, renovating and maintaining a healthy house

Jim LaRue's Seven steps to a healthier home

Housing health hazards
Pollution may be a problem in the very place we expect to be safest—our homes. Indeed, many of the regulated outdoor pollutants are commonly found at higher levels indoors.

A quick overview of housing-related health hazards and how to properly handle them:

• carbon monoxide
• asbestos
• radon
• pesticides
• household products
• tobacco smoke
  

Residential pollution hazards from the Greater Cleveland Environment Book
Indoor Asthma Triggers Control Guide and our asthma page- includes is information on the most common Astham Triggers and Control Strategies.

Moisture and mold
A number of serious health hazards are associated with excess moisture in the home, including mold, dust mites, and cockroaches. These hazards can contribute to many health problems including asthma.

Home Moisture Audit
Jim LaRue, EHW's building science consultant, provides a step-by-step guide for diagnosing moisture problems at different areas in the home. This resource is a detailed home evaluation for moisture problems that is informative and easy to follow.

Also, see Jim's Checklist of moisture trouble spots in the home.

Controlling excess moisture
Environmental Health Watch is involved with numerous projects controlling moisture and mold. This report, Moisture Control Treatments in Older Housing (2007), represents the latest thinking on controlling moisture and its effects.

• EHW moisture control projects
• Links to moisture control resources
  

Pests & Pesticides - both not healthy

IPM - Safer and More Effective Pest Control

• The old methods of pest control - still too commonly used - rely on monthly spraying of volatile and toxic pesticides for roaches and use of strong poisons for rodents. These methods are costly, ineffective in the long run, and potentially dangerous. Even when done properly, spraying can leave persistent pesticide residue. Irritant chemicals in some pesticide sprays can actually trigger asthma attacks (see Asthma, Children and Pesticides: What you need to know, Beyond Pesticides - National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides). Poisons used for rodents are one of the most common sources of poisoning of young children.
• The state-of-the-art in the pest control industry is Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is safer, more effective, and cheaper in the long run than the old methods- spraying toxic pesticides. IPM utilizes pest monitoring, environmental controls, mechanical capture, and targeted applications of small amounts of low-volatility, least-toxic pesticides.

Roaches and Rodents - Potent Asthma Triggers

• Multiple factors contribute to the severity of asthma. Allergens associated with cockroaches and rodents are potent and pervasive asthma triggers. They are especially prevalent in substandard urban housing. For example, in the National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study 37% of the children were allergic to cockroach allergen. High levels of cockroach allergen were found in the dust of 50% of the children's bedrooms. Sensitivity and exposure were strongly associated with increased likelihood of asthma symptoms.
• EHW conducted a study on effective cleanup of roach allergens. This method includes using a HEPA wet vacuum (instead of a traditional mop and bucket) and detergent cleaners. The results indicate this cleaning method significantly reduced the cockroach allergen compared to traditional methods. For more information see our Pests and Asthma section or the results of the report.

What's Working for Bed Bug Control in Multifamily Housing
National Center for Healthy Housing

Asthma Regional Council of New England- Integrated Pest Management

Household products and building materials

• Search the National Library of Medicine Household Products Database for listings of a wide variety of household products, from deodorants and laundry detergents to lawn care products.  Selecting teh type of product will provide a list of different popular brands that may pose a risk to your health. The specific details about each products are included. Health effects and ingredients are listed with links to the TOXNET database.
• Cleaning for Health - This report from Inform Inc. is a one-stop guide to environmentally preferable cleaning products and methods that have been effectively used in office buildings, schools, hospitals and other facilities in the United States and Canada. Bleaches, soaps, and caustic solutions can be harmful for humans to handle. There are environmentally friendly cleaning products that are more effective and safer for humans.
• The Integrated Waste Management Board's Building Material Emissions Study (2003) measures emissions of products common to classrooms and State construction in comparison to alternative products.

Household hazardous waste disposal

• The 6 "R"s of Household Hazardous Waste Disposal include the familiar three -- reduce, reuse, and recycle -- plus three others -- render less harmful, route properly, and retain. 
• Household hazardous waste tips on disposal methods from The Greater Cleveland Environment Book (1998). Toxic products can pose threats to our health and to the environment when unconsciously placed in the trash, dumped in the storm sewer, or poured down the drain.
• For household hazardous waste collection dates in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and answers to your specific questions check out the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District. 

Prompts for healthy habits

• A prompt is a cue that reminds us to carry out an action we might otherwise forget to do. We often do not take action for the simple reason that we forget. Prompts are helpful when people are already predisposed to doing an activity and just need to be reminded to do it.
• EHW and artist Ralph Solonitz developed prompts for a project in partnership with Alliance for Health Housing and Cleveland Tenants Organization (funded by US EPA and the Cleveland Foundation). The project helps older people deal with housing related health hazards.

Kitchen smoke is a leading cause of death in developing countries

• Cooking with wood, crop residue, and dung gives off high levels of smoke with carbon monoxide, particulates, cancer-causing chemicals, and other harmful compounds. Cooking smoke contributes to severe respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and asthma.  Cooking smoke kills an estimated 1.6 million people per year, mostly women and children, according to the report Smoke - The Killer in the Kitchen from the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG).The ITDG recommends stoves with chimneys or smoke hoods as an affordable way to reduce smoke in living areas. 
• Indoor Air Pollution - Silent Killer of Women:

More information on housing health hazards

• EPA - Mold
• Safer Products Project
• National Center for Healthy Housing - Essentials in Healthy Homes Practitioner Training Materials and Bibliography
• Steps for Creating a Healthier Home -National Center for Healthy Housing
• Healthy Homes Maintenance Checklist- National Center for Healthy Homes
• Home Moisture Audit - from NC and A&T State University Cooperative Extension
• Microwave News
• PestWise: Partnerships for Environmental Innovation in Pest Management
• Carbon Monoxide
  English- Black and White or Color; Spanish- Black and White or Color

• Tenant Rights Fact Sheet

  English- Black and White or Color; Spanish- Black and White or Color

Other sites -

• Alliance for Healthy Homes
• National Center for Healthy Housing
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Centers for Disease Control
• More links

Recommended Books and Periodicals

Links to EHW's Activities Related to Healthy House