01-04-2015, 10:16 AM
Pam, the concrete sound advice is to close up the house and run a dehumidifier or AC until air quality improves - most people can't afford to do that and so the "poor man's" baking soda and cheesecloth air cleaner came to be.
There is also a much less widely recognized threat to respiratory health in Lower Puna: mold and mildew. If you google toxic mold you'll get quite a few hits - and this courtesy of CDC:
"In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. The IOM also found limited or suggestive evidence linking indoor mold exposure and respiratory illness in otherwise healthy children. "
The AC/dehumidifier will take care of a lot of that problem, but is needed 24/7 during the monsoon season in Puna.
In the past, I have analyzed air particulate samples in LP and some consisted of >90% mold/fungal spores and microscopic organic matter. I had to relocate out of LP after renting down there for a couple of years because the house was permeated with mold and mildew - I could feel my bronchial system react every time I walked into the house.
If someone is sensitive to some of the molds that are endemic to LP, then the best, if not the most welcome advice is to find somewhere else to live.
There is also a much less widely recognized threat to respiratory health in Lower Puna: mold and mildew. If you google toxic mold you'll get quite a few hits - and this courtesy of CDC:
"In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. The IOM also found limited or suggestive evidence linking indoor mold exposure and respiratory illness in otherwise healthy children. "
The AC/dehumidifier will take care of a lot of that problem, but is needed 24/7 during the monsoon season in Puna.
In the past, I have analyzed air particulate samples in LP and some consisted of >90% mold/fungal spores and microscopic organic matter. I had to relocate out of LP after renting down there for a couple of years because the house was permeated with mold and mildew - I could feel my bronchial system react every time I walked into the house.
If someone is sensitive to some of the molds that are endemic to LP, then the best, if not the most welcome advice is to find somewhere else to live.