As asthma rates continue to rise, the Healthy Building Network (HBN) warns that new preventive strategies are needed to address this epidemic at its source. Actions include avoiding the many building materials that introduce asthma-causing chemicals into the indoor environment. Materials that may include chemicals that can cause the development of asthma include flooring, carpets, insulation, and paints.
This information has been released in the new HBN report, Full Disclosure Required: A Strategy to Prevent Asthma through Building Product Selection, which reveals that building occupants can be exposed to 20 asthmagens commonly found in these products.
"Many building materials asthmagens, chemicals that can cause asthma to develop, as well as chemicals that can trigger asthma attacks," explains Ted Schettler, MD, MPH from the Science and Environmental Health Network. "The HBN report also identifies chemicals that may impair the early development of the lungs and immune systems in children."
The full report can be found at HBN.
