Sustainability of residential environmental interventions and health outcomes in the elderly.

Background: Research has documented that housing conditions can negatively impact the health of residents. Asthma has many known indoor environmental triggers including dust, pests, smoke and mold, as evidenced by the 25 million people in the U.S.

Asthma, COPD, and home environments: Interventions with older adults.

Background: We describe a multifaceted home environmental intervention project involving low-income older adults with asthma who have a greater risk of asthma-related respiratory impacts because they spend up to 90% of their time in the home where many allergens and respiratory irritants are found. Although sufficient evidence suggests that home interventions are effective in improving health of children with asthma, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services has stated that evidence is insufficient for the effectiveness of home interventions on adults with asthma.

Objective: To evaluate the hypothesis that multifaceted home environmental interventions improve the respiratory health and reduce asthma triggers for older adults with asthma.

Unsustainable Wind Turbine Blade Disposal Practices in the United States.

Finding ways to manage the waste from the expected high number of wind turbine blades in need of disposal is crucial to harvest wind energy in a truly sustainable manner. Landfilling is the most cost-effective disposal method in the United States, but it imposes significant environmental impacts. Thermal, mechanical, and chemical processes allow for some energy and/or material recovery, but they also carry potential negative externalities.

Healthy homes: in-home environmental asthma intervention in a diverse urban community.

Objectives: We evaluated health outcomes associated with in-home interventions in low-income urban households with children with asthma.

Methods: A comprehensive health and environmental assessment and subsequent intervention were completed in 116 households with 170 enrolled children with asthma. Home health workers provided household safety, asthma prevention education, and targeted environmental intervention to decrease asthma triggers and improve household safety.