IN-PERSON London. Section A

Abstract

Asthma aggravation is related to many known indoor environmental triggers, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM), which are emitted when cooking with gas stoves. Home intervention studies have demonstrated that air purifiers with HEPA/carbon filters reduce indoor PM and NO2 concentrations more effectively than ventilation hoods. However, very little is known about NO2 and PM concentrations from using gas stoves and the concurrent reduction in both pollutants when using air purifiers. We evaluated these hypotheses: 1) the use of HEPA/charcoal filtration decrease NO2 and PM levels from cooking in homes with gas stoves; 2) reductions in PM and NO2 improve respiratory symptoms and reduce health care utilization in asthmatic older adults; 3) adding the typical multi-trigger environmental and educational interventions conducted further improve respiratory symptoms and reduce health care utilization in older adults with asthma. We completed intervention in the homes of 63 low-income older adults (ages 55+) residing in public and private subsidized housing. Health assessments included collecting data on respiratory health outcomes pre- and post-intervention (questionnaires on symptoms, asthma control, quality of life, medication use, and doctor/ER/hospital visits). Environmental assessments included evaluation of PM and NO levels, asthma trigger activities and exposures pre- and post-intervention (questionnaire, home survey, environmental samples). Results supported our hypotheses that HEPA filtration interventions significantly decease NO2 and PM levels emitted from cooking in homes with gas stoves and reduce health care utilization and improve respiratory symptoms and adding the multi-trigger environmental interventions further improve respiratory health in older adults with asthma.