- 3.1: Health and Housing
- 3.2: Building, Maintenance and Renovation
- 3.3: Home Hazards
- 3.4: Integrated Pest Management
- 3.5: Training
- 3.5: Research
- 3.6: Program Links
Our mission:
To reduce the impact of asthma across New England, through collaborations of health, housing, education, and environmental organizations with particular focus on the contribution of schools, homes, and communities to the disease and with attention to its disproportionate impact on populations at greatest risk.
Chemicals
Chemicals (Cleaners, Fragrances, Pesticides, Other)
Household products such as cleaners, deodorizers, degreasers, stain removers, disinfectants, and pest control sprays all contain chemicals that may be hazardouse to your family's health. Many of these products contain chemicals that cause eye, nose, throat and respiratory irritation. Others, such as those that disinfect or kill mold, ants, mice, cockroaches, bedbugs or other pests contain pesticides which can contain chemicals that cause developmental delays, disrupt our endocrine (or hormone) systens, or cause cancer. Many cleaners and pesticides have chemicals that can trigger asthma symptoms.
Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of household chemicals and all care should be taken to reduce exposure by using safer products and methods to clean and control pests. Find out more about what is in your products and safer solutions through the following resources.
General
Household Products Database
Information on the chemicals in your products from the National Institute of Medicine.
A Healthy Environment Starts At Home (Massachusetts Water Resources Guide to Reducing Household Hazardous Products)
See our Research section for information on chemicals in household dust.
Building Materials
Formaldehyde in Wood Products (Healthy Building Network)
Find out about sources of formaldehyde, health effects and alternatives.
Volatile Organic Compounds In Your Home (MN Dept. of Health)
Quick Guide to Green Tenant Improvements (City of Seattle)
See more on green products and renovation guidance at Building, Maintenance and Renovation.
Cleaners
Cleaning for Home Health (Inform, Inc.)
Asthmagens in Institutional Cleaners (Inform, Inc.)
10 Ways to find Safer Cleaners (Toxics Use Reduction Institute, MA)
Fragrances
Massachusetts Nurses Association has information on the chemicals in fragrances and resources for frangrance-free products and policies.
Pest Control (Building and Grounds)
National Pesticide Information Center
Factsheets on pesticides and links to least-toxic products and safer pest control.
Simple Steps to an Organic Lawn (Marblehead Pesticide Awareness Committee)
See more under Integrated Pest Management.
On October 12, 2011 ARC and close to 50 co-signers submitted testimony requesting that the Institute of Medicine examine and address the non-clinical best practice components of comprehensive asthma management as part of Community Based
Non-Clinical Prevention Policies and Wellness Strategies.
Over 50 organizations and individuals joined ARC and Health Resources in Action in expressing to New England U.S. Senator4s our extreme concern about the proposed complete elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program by the Senate Appropriations Committee in the proposed FY12 spending bill for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.