Indoor Air Quality
My email had a link to the article on indoor air quality, which is a big contributor to my severe asthma experience. Outdoor air too, with pollens and smoke and vehicle exhaust. The outdoor triggers are also indoor triggers, when pollen comes inside on clothing and hair and pets, and wildfire smoke and car exhaust from commuter traffic comes inside through open doors and the HVAC system.
We had an air scrubber installed on the HVAC unit, which helps a lot, but is not perfect. I think it makes the particulates fall to the floor, so I am less likely to breathe them. The smoke particles, however, also emit VOCs, so they cause problems for breathing anyway, until they are damp dusted, vacuumed, and mopped away. HEPA filters don’t catch VOCs.
Cleaning products of all kinds trigger my asthma, whether bleach or pine or citrus or lavender scented. We have started using Castile soap for most things.
Most people unknowingly trigger my asthma with the second hand smoke, fragrances, and hair products they use, which means having people in our house to visit is stressful for me.
Our kitchen has a gas stove, so we make sure the fan is venting when it is in use.
We had a plumbing leak in the wall, and it was caught early, but four rooms of the house were affected. Then during the renovation, more damage was found and it had grown black mold by then, which meant even more demolition. We had to move out during the mold clean up, and the hotel was so horrible for my asthma I spent the time on prednisone. The entire process from leak to fixed was eight months. Eight months of people in the house, black mold, construction dust, smoke from cutting wood with power tools, and use of chemicals like paint and tile thinset and caulk (which was a very bad asthma trigger). It was stressful, for sure.
My doctors keep asking me if I am willing to move to a place with fewer asthma triggers. We have discussed it several times. The indoor asthma triggers are what keeps us here. A different place is no guarantee of escaping problems. People still burn fuel to heat homes and to cook. People smoke everywhere in the world. Homes are built with products that have chemicals that trigger asthma. We have zero control over our neighbors and their use of chemicals and cooking and smoking, and we can’t eliminate contact with other people.
Thanks for this article. It discusses asthma triggers that healthy people aren’t aware of, and it makes me feel like my asthma is understood by someone out there.
Thank you for taking the time to read, reflect, and respond,
, to the article. I am glad it was of interest.
It sounds like a horrible experience you've gone through. I'm not sure I would have been sane at the end of the renovations and fixes. This summer I stayed in a motel and just 3 nights there I had a substantial reaction to the mold, mildew, smoke, and rug dirt that I had to use my inhalers twice as much. It put a damper on our plans for sure. I'm not sure I would have lasted 8 months through renovation work.
I relate significantly to the plethora of triggers you mention and have had to manage one or some at one point or another in my life. They are quite difficult to manage.
I can't imagine how you managed throughout the months people were in and out fixing and adjusting the living space which was quite perilous to you.
It's important to know others understand the plights of others. I hope others chime in and share their experiences. Also, have you entered the Giveaway? Here's a link https://asthma.net/living/sept-2024-giveaway A wonderful item to have when monitoring indoor air.
Wishing the best of breathing well into the Fall and Winter seasons. Rebecca (Team member)A few years back my family went on a weekend getaway about 3 hours away. We booked a room and headed toward some well-needed relief and relaxation only to find the room had a horrendous smoke smell, a terrible mold problem, and was quite stuffy. We couldn't stay. We left within 15 mins and searched for another room elsewhere. Sometimes people feel that need to stay in that atmosphere for fear of losing money or not finding another hotel/motel, when in fact there are options - leaving being one of them. Hoping this doesn't happen to numerous families, but I know many have dealt with this problem. It may be a great topic to explore. Thoughtfully, Rebecca (team member) , yeah smoking is not as common as it used to be, which is good for a variety of reasons. Some hotels seem to hold onto those memories with decades old moldy carpet and drapes, and the ventilation system is not filtered and is shared between every room in the building.
The hotel we stayed in had a laminate floor in a fairly new building, so I thought it would be okay. We even brought a hepa filter from home. But I guess smoke and dust are absorbed by the bed and I think the cleaning chemicals used by housekeeping were a problem. We really didn’t have a better option.
