The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #56844

Asa Bradman, PhD¹, Jonathan Chevrier, MSc¹, Ira Tager, MD¹, Michael Lipsett, MD², Janet Macher, PhD³, Jacqueline Sedgwick, MD⁴, Rosana Hernandez, MPH¹, Ana Vargas⁵, Geri Kavanagh-Baird⁵, Jose M. Comacho⁵, Elvia Cabrera⁵, and Brenda Eskenazi, PhD¹. (1) Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Shattuck Ave, Suite 600, Berkeley, CA 94720, 510-643-3023, abradman@socrates.berkeley.edu, (2) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California Environmental Protection Agency, 1515 Clay Street, 16th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, (3) EHLB, California Department of Health Services, 2151 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, (4) Clinica de Salud del Valle Salinas, 449 Airport Blvd, Salinas, CA 93906, (5) Natividad Medical Center, CHAMACOS, 1441 Constitution Blvd., Salinas, CA 93906

Deteriorated housing conditions are unhealthful for young children, who spend most of their time indoors at home. We completed 645 home assessments as part of a study of pesticide and allergen exposures among primarily low-income Latina pregnant women and their children in the Salinas Valley, CA. Adverse residential conditions included the presence of cockroaches (60%), rodents (31%), water damage (25%), mold (25%), peeling paint (58%), and rotting wood (11%). Compared to 2001 data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), our participants were more likely to have rodents, peeling paint, and leaks under sinks as well as much higher residential densities. Poor housing quality and high residential density increased the odds of rodent (OR=1.8 (95% CI=1.2-2.7) and 2.1 (95% CI=1.4-3.1) for the presence of peeling paint and water damage, respectively)) or cockroach (OR=2.8 (95% CI=1.9-4.1) and 1.8 (95% CI=1.2-2.8) for peeling paint and water damage, respectively)) infestations independently of housekeeping quality, building type, or socio-economic status. Peeling paint and water damage were correlated with other housing disrepair variables (i.e. mold, rotting wood), suggesting that these variables are markers of the general physical environment in the homes we inspected. Forty-six percent of households reported using pesticides, in part to control roach and rodent infestations. Among the residences in which pesticides were stored, pyrethroids were found in 62%, piperonyl butoxide in 21%, carbamates in 14%, and organophosphates in 12%. Overall, 90% of pesticides were insecticides and 5% were rodenticides. These data suggest that interventions to improve housing quality among low-income Latino residents in the Salinas Valley are needed.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation, a participant will be able to:
• articulate how home environmental assessments are conducted;
• identify five indicators of poor housing conditions,
• analyze the relationship of poor housing quality with pest infestations,
• identify US HUD data on housing characteristics,
• discuss the policy implication for tracking adverse housing conditions as a tool for guiding housing policy.

Keywords: Children's Health, Housing

Related Web page: www.chamacos.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.