Indoor Air Quality

Gases like radon and carbon monoxide can be deadly and are undetectable without proper testing. Deadly effects from these gases are 100% preventable.

 

Radon

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Only smoking causes more lung cancer. There are no early symptoms of radon exposure and no easy way to test individuals for exposure. The best prevention is to test the home.

 

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide is an odorless and tasteless gas that can be given off during the burning of fuel. It is the leading cause of poisoning deaths in the United States. The best protection is to have fuel burning appliances inspected annually and to install a carbon monoxide detector on each level of the home.

 

Particulate Matter

Particulate Matter is a mixture of particles. Particulate matter can come from a number of sources including household cleaners, chemical air fresheners, cigarette smoke, and unventilated gas stoves and heaters. Exposure to particulate matter can trigger asthma symptoms as well as increase risk to respiratory and cardiovascular health.  

 

Other Air Quality Issues

Other air quality issues specific to asthma and allergies can be found on the mold and moisture and pest pages.

 

In Case of Emergency

If your Carbon Monoxide detector goes off, get everyone out of the house as soon as possible and call your local fire department.

Did You Know...

Across the U.S., radon exposure results in approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year.

Resources

A Citizens Guide to Radon(635 KB)

EPA Guide to protecting yourself and your family from radon.

Easy and Safe Cleaning Products(111 KB)

2013 Carbon Monoxide Report for the State of Michigan(617 KB)

2013 data on carbon monoxide deaths, hospitalizations, and poisonings for the state of Michigan provided by the Michigan Deaprtment of Health and Human Services (published March 2015).

Invisible Killer(152 KB)

Guide to Carbon Monoxide.

Green Cleaning for Your Healthy Home(369 KB)

Green Cleaning Recipes(1.6 MB)

Carbon Monoxide Fact Sheet(1.5 MB)

Fact sheet jointly authored by the Healthy Homes Coalition and Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Injury Prevention Coalition (formerly the Safe Kids Coaltiion).

Healthy Homes in the News

Parents, a Healthy Homes Coalition board member, and staff were all featured on a Michigan Radio news story. We are sharing it here in case you missed it.

In the words of one of Healthy Homes’ newest board members, grandparent Lisa Matthews, "“People think (lead) is a small problem, but it’s a very big problem. I know it takes time to do something about it … I’m just sayin’ what are we going to do now?”

Healthy Homes is eager to begin working with the City and community partners to implement the solutions recommended in this report.

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Join the Healthy Homes Team!

The Healthy Homes Coalition is looking for a Community Organizer to support Parents for Healthy Homes as they advance equity and safety for our kids by promoting policies, investments, and systems that put an end to substandard housing for Grand Rapids families.

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Spotlight: Lisa's Peer Education visits take off!

Lisa Matthews' reputation as a connected community member precedes her - she has been helping her neighbors get access to, and navigate, area resources for years.  Among the important community work Lisa dedicates her time to, she has made providing her neighbors with lead education visits as a community educator one of her priorities.  She has been instrumental in helping the peer education group she is a member of complete 44 peer-to-peer lead education visits in a matter of months...

 

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