Blog
-
The Dual Threat: Wildfire Smoke and Extreme Heat
The increased frequency and severity of recent wildfire smoke events has had a major impact on those with asthma, severely limiting their activities and increasing the risk of asthma exacerbations, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. In response, RAMP has created a range of tools to help support people with asthma prepare for and limit the…
-
Pest Prevention and Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
On September 24th, the California Healthy Housing Coalition’s IAQ Workgroup hosted a webinar on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Building off of last year’s introduction to pest infestations, this year’s webinar provided an in-depth look at pest prevention and integrated pest management (IPM). Dr. Andrew Sutherland from UC IPM provided an overview of IPM focusing on pest prevention strategies…
-
AAFA Releases the 2024 Asthma Capitals Report
Asthma is greatly influenced by where someone lives. People who have affordable and accessible health care, clean air, and economic stability have a greater chance of managing and controlling their asthma. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s (AAFA) Asthma Capitals™ Report ranks the largest 100 cities in the continental US by how challenging they are…
-
Study Details US Air Pollution Impacts from Warehousing
The July 2024, edition of Nature Communications includes a study, “Air pollution impacts from warehousing in the United States uncovered with satellite data,” highlighting the negative impacts of e-commerce and warehousing industries on air quality across the United States. In a comprehensive nationwide study examining traffic, associated air pollution, and environmental equity near warehouses in…
-
HEI’s Newest Study on Air Pollution and Childhood Asthma Risk
In late 2024, the Health Effects Institute released, “Birth Cohort Studies of Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution in Early Life and Development of Asthma in Children and Adolescents from Denmark,” which examined children’s asthma in four Danish cohorts and focused on exposure to an array of air pollutants. The study results yielded an association…
-
Updated AirNow Fire and Smoke Map Released by EPA and Forest Service
In September 2024, the US EPA and Forest Service updated their AirNow Fire and Smoke Map! Originally, the EPA and the Forest Service developed the Fire and Smoke Map to provide the public information on fire locations, smoke plumes, near real-time air quality, Smoke Outlooks for large US wildfires, and protective actions to take that…
-
Tracking California Releases New Environmental Public Health Data System
Tracking California has released a new data tool that specifically allows you to search for environmental and health topics and interact with data in the form of maps, charts, time trends, and tables in California. When searching by the topic area of asthma, there is data on: The data can be separated by a multitude…
-
NIH’s Infographic Highlights Asthma Burden in Kids
Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting about 1 in every 10 students. As children are returning to school, parents need to be aware of the signs of asthma and how to work effectively with healthcare providers to manage their child’s asthma. The NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute created an…
-
Understanding and Combating Asthma Peak Week
In the US, the third week in September is recognized as Asthma Peak Week because of the spike in pediatric hospital stays related to asthma attacks due to increased allergies and asthma triggers. Triggers include ragweed pollen, respiratory viruses, indoor allergens, and air pollutants in addition to stress and anxiety during the back-to-school season and…
-
AAFA Offering Free Asthma Management Education for Respiratory Therapists and Nurses Through September
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America is offering free asthma management education courses for September to combat the September asthma peak. Respiratory therapists and nurses will learn about asthma assessment and monitoring, control of environmental factors, medicine management, and patient education over 10 lessons based on the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program’s “Four…
-
EPA Releases Version 2 of Indoor AirPlus Home Certification Program,
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor Environments Division has released Version 2 of its Indoor AirPlus home certification program. This new version includes improved features to enhance indoor air quality, such as enhanced guidelines, new verification protocols, expanded resources, and tiered certification. Click here for full information. In addition, the EPA will be hosting a…
-
CHHC’s Principles on Equitable Smoke-Free Multifamily Housing
With RAMP’s leadership and support, the California Healthy Housing Coalition (CHHC) leveraged over a decade of collaboration between public health and tenants’ rights members and brought a small group of partners together to develop a set of principles that balance health protections with housing stability to aid future efforts to create equitable approaches to addressing smoke-free multifamily housing. The…