National Asthma Awareness Month: A healthy home is a happy home

In 1996, Inspectional Services and the Boston Public Health Commission partnered with health care providers throughout the city to form a web-based referral system known as The Breathe Easy program. The program allows agencies to combine efforts to help residents with asthma by:

• conducting general inspections of the entire home,
• pointing out defects and/or violations, and
• educating property owners as to how to correct the code infraction.  
   

The program serves as a national model to show how Boston’s City agencies work together to remove asthma triggers from the household. Boston's approach is to help tenants, property owners, and health care providers eliminate asthma triggers from the home to ensure the health and safety of the occupants.

Here are some commonly found asthma triggers in the home:

• Dust mites
• Cockroach
• Pollen
• Mold
• Pet dander
• Rodents
• Cigarette smoke
• Fumes
• Dust
• Harsh cleaning chemicals
• Chronic dampness
• Drafts (doors and windows)
• No heat
• Old carpet

Here’s how a housing inspector checks a home for violations.