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.