ASPIRE Health Tulare County

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare indoor air quality and health in people exposed to air pollution, including possible exposure to wildfire smoke. The study will test the effect of using a do-it-yourself (DIY) air cleaner when air pollution is present to answer the following questions:

* Do health outcomes differ between participants who use a DIY PAC and those who use a sham air cleaner?
* How effective is the DIY air cleaner in reducing indoor concentrations of fine particles (PM2.5), and volatile organic compounds found in wildfire smoke? OR How effective is the DIY air cleaner in reducing indoor concentrations of fine and coarse particles (i.e., PM 10)?
* What are barriers to use of a DIY air cleaner and what factors facilitate its use?

Participants will be asked to do the following:

* Participate in 5 home visits from study staff between July - October 2023
* Have an air quality sensor placed in the participant's bedroom for the whole study period
* Have a small sensor attached to the main door of the participant's house to record when the door is open or closed (important for air quality inside)
* Allow researchers to take air and dust samples in the participant's bedroom
* Run a DIY air cleaner in the participant's bedroom for at least 6 nights while the participant sleeps
* Complete 2 interviews
* Allow study staff to collect 3 fingerstick blood samples
* Allow study staff to collect 3 samples of fluid from inside the nose
* Use the study air cleaner in the participant's bedroom during the study period

The investigators will measure air quality in participating homes and measure health outcomes for participants. The investigators will compare outcomes of participants who use a DIY air cleaner with filters that work well to those of participants who use a DIY air cleaner with a placebo filter (one that does not work well to remove the air pollutants of concern). The goal of the study is to see if using the effective air cleaner leads to better health outcomes and indoor air quality.

Conditions

• Respiratory Tract Diseases
• Cardiovascular Diseases

Interventions

OTHER

DIY portable air cleaner with a highly effective filter

A portable air filtration device that can be homemade ("DIY"), constructed by attaching a highly effective air filter (MERV13 rating or higher) to a 20 inch box fan to filter air pollutants including particulate matter of size 2.5 micrometers diameter or greater.

OTHER

DIY portable air cleaner with sham filtration

A portable air filtration device that can be homemade ("DIY") by attaching an air filter to a 20 inch box fan. The portable air cleaner with sham filtration with have a filter that is not effective for filtration of fine particulate matter, including that in wildfire smoke.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  collaborator OTHER

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

  lead FED

Principal Investigators

• Ann N Chelminski, MD, MPH · Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Nayamin Martinez, MPH · Central California Environmental Justice Network

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-07-29

Primary Completion

2023-10-31

Completion

2023-10-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations