Self-reported health impacts of do-it-yourself air cleaner use in a smoke-impacted community.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Smoke exposure from wildfires or residential wood burning for heat is a public health problem for many communities. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) portable air cleaners (PACs) are promoted as affordable alternatives to commercial PACs, but evidence of their effect on health outcomes is limited.

Objective

Pilot test an evaluation of the effect of DIY PAC usage on self-reported symptoms, and investigate barriers and facilitators of PAC use, among members of a tribal community that routinely experiences elevated concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) from smoke.

Methods

We conducted studies in Fall 2021 ("wildfire study"; N = 10) and Winter 2022 ("wood stove study"; N = 17). Each study included four sequential one-to-two-week phases: 1) initial, 2)

SUBMITTER: Turner MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10875335 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature