Blog
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EPA Offers Resources, Planning Guides, Tips, and Other Resource for May’s Asthma Awareness Month
May is Asthma Awareness Month, a time to educate asthma stakeholders about this chronic condition and how it can be controlled. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers a variety of resources for planning your Asthma Awareness Month activities: Download EPA’s Asthma Awareness Month Event Planning Kit, which features ideas for outreach and awareness activities,…
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Please Support RAMP’s Healthy Housing Bills!
We recently announced two healthy housing bills RAMP is sponsoring this year. Will you take a moment to show your support for healthy housing? AB 548, authored by Assemblymember Boerner-Horvath, will introduce a proactive element to complaint-based code enforcement. The bill requires code enforcement officers to inspect additional units at a multi-family property if they…
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RAMP’s Housing Legislation Will Improve and Support Local Code Enforcement
Over the past ten years, RAMP and key partners have worked together to advance legislation to fix gaps in the state’s housing code, including closing loopholes related to pest infestations, ensuring tenants are notified when pesticides are used on a property, and adding visible mold as an enforceable substandard housing condition. With many key issues…
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Environmental Law Institute Releases Ventilation in Schools Report
In early 2023, the Environmental Law Institute released a report titled “Ventilation in Schools: A review of State Policy Strategies.” The report investigates and supports state development of school ventilation policies and describes how current policies address strategies for improving ventilation and filtration in schools. In addition, the report highlights policies that provide financial and…
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Evidence Review Examines Effectiveness of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Air Cleaners
The National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, has produced a new evidence review on the effectiveness of do-it-yourself (DIY) air cleaners. The review of academic and technical literature showed that DIY air cleaners performed similarly to commercial portable air cleaners in terms of clean air delivery rate…
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Allergy & Asthma Network and American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders Launch Biologics Toolkit
The Allergy & Asthma Network and the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders (APFED) have partnered to develop and launch a web-based Biologics Toolkit. Biologics are specialized medications designed to treat the source of symptoms rather than the symptoms themselves. They have emerged as an additional treatment option for many diseases, including severe asthma. The toolkit,…
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Gas Stoves and Asthma
Gas cooking stoves – so common across much of the United States – may play an outsized role in increased risk of asthma among children. In a study recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers estimate over 12% of current childhood asthma is attributed to gas stove use. That…
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RAMP CHW Meeting: Biologics for the Management of Severe Asthma
Neeta Thakur, MD, Medical Director of the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) Chest Clinic, University of California, San Francisco, presented “Biologics for the Management of Severe Asthma” on January 17, 2023. To view the full presentation, click here. RAMP hosts regular convenings for CHWs, promotoras, and others providing asthma education. For additional information about future meetings,…
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Gas Stoves and Childhood Asthma in the United States
An article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health’s December 2022 edition examines the correlation between gas stoves and childhood asthma. Researchers found 12.7% “of current childhood asthma in the US is attributable to gas stove use.” To reach this data, population attributable fractions (PAF) were quantified for gas stove use and…
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First Focus on Children Releases Big Ideas 2023
First Focus on Children has released their Big Ideas 2023, a series of reports bringing together scholars, advocates, lawmakers, and others to examine the needs of children and propose ways to improve their health, safety, and general well-being. This edition examines many issues, including dual-language education, guaranteed income, TANF, and homelessness. One of the articles…
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EPA Releases New Guidance for Indoor Air Sensor Technology
The US Environmental Protection Agency has released guidance on indoor air sensors, hoping to teach consumers about new technologies that are now being used. The guidance specifically covers how air sensor technology is changing indoor air quality management, how air sensor technology is commonly used indoors, and an introduction to indoor use of air pollution…
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Celebrating Our Accomplishments in Partnership with You
At this time last year, I was pleased to share with you RAMP’s three ambitious goals under our 2022-2024 Strategic Plan: Healthy and Stable Housing. Healthy Air for All. Health Care Equity. Today, I’m thrilled to share meaningful accomplishments in each of these goal areas—thanks, in large part, to our valuable partnerships with organizations like…