Indoor Air Quality for Black Adults With Uncontrolled Asthma

The aims of this project are twofold: 1. to characterize indoor air quality components obtained from apartments with gas stoves and open kitchens in a cohort of Black adults with uncontrolled asthma recruited from federally qualified health centers and enrolled in the parent study. 2. to conduct a comprehensive assessment of feasibility, implementation, and acceptability of the study.

People spend as much as 90% of their time indoors, making indoor air quality (IAQ) particularly important to health. Many homes in New York City, particularly low-income housing, contain gas kitchen appliances, which generate fuel through the combustion of natural gas, generating indoor pollutants. Increasing evidence finds that even low levels of these pollutants are hazardous for human health. Those most vulnerable to ambient air pollution live in homes with gas appliances and inadequate ventilation. Moreover, individuals with pre-existing diseases like asthma are particularly susceptible to adverse health effects from poor IAQ, which gas stoves may exacerbate. This study addresses the important problem of uncontrolled asthma among a group at high risk for asthma and its adverse effects - Black adults who reside in homes with gas stoves and open kitchens. The investigator aims to characterize indoor air quality components in a cohort enrolled in the parent R01 (NCT05341726) and conduct a comprehensive assessment of feasibility including process, implementation and acceptability metrics. Identifying new targets for asthma self-management that could produce better health outcomes, thus addressing an important health inequity issue.