Indoor environmental exposures for children with asthma enrolled in the HEAL study, post-Katrina New Orleans.
BACKGROUND
Rain and flooding from Hurricane Katrina resulted in widespread growth of mold and bacteria and production of allergens in New Orleans, Louisiana, which may have led to increased exposures and morbidity in children with asthma.


OBJECTIVE
The goal of the Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) study was to characterize post-Katrina exposures to mold and allergens in children with asthma.


METHODS
The homes of 182 children with asthma in New Orleans and surrounding parishes were evaluated by visual inspection, temperature and moisture measurements, and air and dust sampling. Air was collected using vacuum-pump spore traps and analyzed for > 30 mold taxa using bright field microscopy. Dust was collected from the children's beds and bedroom floors and analyzed for mouse (Mus m 1), dust mite (Der p 1), cockroach (Bla g 1), and mold (Alternaria mix) allergens using ELISA.


RESULTS
More than half (62%) of the children were living in homes that had been damaged by rain, flooding, or both. Geometric mean indoor and outdoor airborne mold levels were 501 and 3,958 spores/m3, respectively. Alternaria antigen was detected in dust from 98% of homes, with 58% having concentrations > 10 µg/g. Mus m 1, Der p 1, and Bla g 1 were detected in 60%, 35%, and 20% of homes, respectively, at low mean concentrations.


CONCLUSIONS
Except for Alternaria antigen in dust, concentrations of airborne mold (ratio of indoor to outdoor mold) and dust allergens in the homes of HEAL children were lower than measurements found in other studies, possibly because of extensive post-Katrina mold remediation and renovations, or because children moved into cleaner homes upon returning to New Orleans.
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Grimsley@tulane.edu
L Faye
LF
Grimsley
Patricia C
PC
Chulada
Suzanne
S
Kennedy
LuAnn
L
White
Jeremy
J
Wildfire
Richard D
RD
Cohn
Herman
H
Mitchell
Eleanor
E
Thornton
Jane
J
El-Dahr
Mosanda M
MM
Mvula
Yvonne
Y
Sterling
William J
WJ
Martin
Kevin U
KU
Stephens
Maureen
M
Lichtveld
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D004190:Disasters; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D055820:New Orleans / Q000453:epidemiology
D000393:Air Pollutants; D000485:Allergens; D004391:Dust