2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

330083
New Initiatives to Reduce Chemical Exposures in Affordable Housing


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.

Bill Walsh, Healthy Building Network, Washington, DC
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Recent research shows that widely used building products can contain avoidable chemical hazards linked to diseases such as asthma.  (See e.g. Lott and Vallette, Environmental Justice Volume 7, Number 6, 2014 a Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/env.2014.0032)  Due to limitations and loopholes in “green” product certification protocols, even products that are certified as “low-emitting” and marketed as “asthma-friendly” can contain chemicals linked to asthma.  Residents of low-income and affordable housing are disproportionately impacted. Previous studies have shown a correlation between the use of “green” building products and improved health of residents. (See e.g., Kreiger, 2010 Pediatr Allergy Immunol Pulmonol. 2010 Jun; 23(2): 139–145. doi: 10.1089/ped.2010.0022)

New initiatives are now underway that make it possible to identify these chemical hazards and prevent exposures to them through careful selection of building materials.

This presentation will briefly review studies that have documented the presence of chemicals associated with the onset and exacerbation of Asthma and other diseases in ordinary building products.  The bulk of the presentation will be devoted to describing new tools and programs that can be used to screen building products to avoid these chemical hazards.  The presenter will also explain how to measure reduced chemical exposures through careful materials selection and offer “rules of thumb” for healthier materials selection in new construction and renovation projects.   New collaborative programs between environmental health advocates and affordable housing providers will be highlighted.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Environmental health sciences
Occupational health and safety
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Identify avoidable chemical health hazards in commonly used building materials. Describe new tools and programs for screening building materials to avoid these health hazards as part of a prevention strategy for diseases such as asthma. Explain how to measure reduced health hazards through careful building materials selection in new construction and renovation,

Keyword(s): Asthma, Chemical Exposures & Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Executive Director of an organization that has published 3 studies in the last 2 years relating to the health impacts of chemicals in building materials. Our organization developed and manages the most comprehensive database of chemicals in building products, over 34,000 chemicals are evaluated against 60 authoritative hazard lists.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4027.0: Chemicals and Public Health