Dimos Polyzois: Healthy Housing Standards for First Nations Communities

Dr. Dimos Polyzois in front of the Ambiente Demo House made entirely of composite Materials built in Winnipeg and designed for Northern communities

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In 2011 we received major funding from:

The Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council and the

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

…to develop healthy housing standards for First Nations communities

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Dr. Dimos Polyzois Professor & Associate Head (Research)Department of Civil Engineering University of Manitoba

Dr. Eleoussa Polyzoi Professor of Education, University of Winnipeg

Dr. Pamela Orr Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba

Dr. Linda Larcombe Assistant Professor Department of Community Health Sciences and Anthropology, University of Manitoba

Dr. Kris Dick Associate Professor of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba

Dr. Marolo Alfaro Professor and Associate Head of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba

RESEARCH TEAM

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OBJECTIVES OF OUR RESEARCH STUDY

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Objective #1: Develop a set of housing standards and a process of assessing First Nations housing to meet these standards

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Objective #2: Develop a Best Practice Process for First Nations housing renewal

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Objective #3: Assess the impact of poor housing on health and education of First Nations children

March by school children in Moosonee, Ontario in support of Shannen's Dream - Equitable Funding for First Nation Schools.

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Objective #4: Develop a Healthy Housing Index (HHI) which will serve as a tool to measure the link between housing conditions and health, using both medical and building sciences.

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The community of our study:

• Located approximately 80 km from Winnipeg• Total population: 1069• Total number of houses: 180

To date, we have :

• Conducted extensive inspections of 159 houses (90% of all homes in the community)

• Collected and analyzed over 450 air samples

• Conducted over 140 interviews with one adult from each household

• Carried out infrared thermography and energy audits of 30 homes

• Obtained permission to access the school and health records of the children

Today’s discussion will focus on mould in First Nations housing

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What are safe levels for mould?

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(Source: Schleibinger, H.; Yang, W. “Indoor air quality and mould”, IRC-ORAL-835, March 2007)

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“[These Guidelines] do not represent a ‘safe level’ of mould, are not applicable to homes, and in no way represent an official Health Canada guideline or recommendation.”

Currently, Health Canada claims:

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Health Canada considers indoor mould growth to be a potential health hazard.

However,

(Source: http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/obj/irc/doc/pubs/oral835/oral835.pdf)

TOTAL 1329 Cladosporium 873 Yeast 42 Alternaria 269 Epicoccum 73 Chaetomium 23 Penecilium 50 Fusarium 29 Chrysosporium 38 Aspergillus 71 Stachybotrys 75 Acremonium 19 Mucor 15 Scupulariopsis 19 Rhizopus 19

Average Mould Counts (CFU/m3)For a First Nations Community

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How much is too much?

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RESPIRATORY HEALTH, HOUSING CONDITIONS, AND SCHOOL ABSENTEEISM

AMONG NINE-YEAR OLD CHILDREN IN WINNIPEG(2005 study sponsored by CIHR)

Dr. Dimos Polyzois Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba

Dr. Eleoussa Polyzoi Professor of Education, University of Winnipeg

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine,and Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba

Dr. Kimberly Thompson Associate Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University

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This study involved:

• 3423 Grades 3 and 4 children• Extensive inspection of 715 homes• 2145 air samples

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% of Homes with Minimum CFU/m3 Cutoff Levels of 100, 200, 300, and 400 (all Species) – April

≥ 100/m3 ≥ 200/m3 ≥ 300/m3 ≥ 400/m30%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Child’s Bedroom

Basement

Minimum CFU Cutoff Levels

Perc

ent

of

Aff

ecte

d H

om

es

Approximately 50% of the homes had mould counts less than 100 CFU’s /m3Less than 10% of the homes had mould counts of greater than 400CFU’s/m3

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We also found that …

Children with reported mould in their home were more likely to have persistent colds.

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Selected Findings (cont’d.)

Children with asthma living in homes with visible mould were even more prone to persistent colds than those without asthma.

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Selected Findings (cont’d.)

60% of children who had asthma & persistent colds missed up to 6 days of school in the last year. Another 20% missed up to 42 days of school.

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Selected Findings (cont’d.)

Children with asthma were found at all income levels: low, middle, or high (asthma has a strong genetic component).

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Selected Findings (cont’d.)

However, children from low-income families had significantly more persistent colds than children from high-income families.

In the First Nations Community, on average:

• The mould counts were 5 times those of Winnipeg

• 88% of homes had mould counts larger than 500 CFU/m3

• 38% of the homes had at least 4 different types of mould greater than 50 CFU/m3

• 56% of the homes had penecillium levels varying from 6 to 750 CFU/m3

• According to Gent et al. (2012), any detectable level (>0 CFU/m3) of Penecillium was significantly associated with respiratory effects among sanitized individuals

Questions?