A good asthma treatment plan includes managing your indoor air quality to help reduce asthma and allergy triggers. Rugs and wall-to-wall carpeting can hold onto irritants and allergens. But allergens and particles can be more easily cleaned from hard surface flooring. One way you can manage asthma and allergy triggers is by replacing carpets with hard surface flooring.

In the United States, the burden of asthma falls disproportionately on poor, low-wealth, and minority populations. Housing conditions are one reason why. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) and the IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic at Children’s National Hospital lead a national collaborative dedicated to reducing asthma burden on at-risk communities. The program works with other local organizations like Breathe Easy Asthma Home Visiting Program and Yachad DC to conduct home visits and provide supplies and home remediation to help reduce asthma triggers.

To support AAFA’s efforts to reach underserved and at-risk communities, Tarkett donated 24,520 square feet of their CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly® flooring.

To be certified as asthma & allergy friendly®, flooring must be tested and proven to meet standards approved by AAFA. The flooring must be easy to clean and not hold onto allergens. It also must not release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or toxic materials above levels known to harm health.

IMPACT DC is coordinating the installation of the Tarkett flooring in the homes of several families managing asthma in the Washington, D.C., area to help them improve their indoor air quality.

“Families whose children have asthma are being seen at the IMPACT DC clinic at Children’s National and are receiving housing assessments during a telehealth virtual asthma home visit,” said Janet A. Phoenix, MD, MPH, founder and manager of the Breathe Easy Asthma Home Visiting Program. “These families are linked to housing remediation and have benefitted from the generous donations made possible by AAFA and its partners whose products are certified as asthma & allergy friendly®.”

To improve indoor environments for people with asthma and allergies, we have developed strict standards and certify products that meet all the standards. Look for the CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly® mark to confirm the product passed our standards to reduce exposure to allergens and improve air quality.

Visit aafa.org/certified to search for CERTIFIED products and learn more about the asthma & allergy friendly® Certification Program.

“The mixture of craft, science, and purpose is a process we’ve practiced for years,” said Sarah Robinson Enaharo, LEED AP, Product Sustainability Manager for Tarkett North America. “Taken together, we call it Tarkett Human-Conscious Design™ and it drives everything we do. Designing healthy spaces aligns with our purpose, and when we were presented the opportunity to help families improve their living spaces and reduce asthmatic triggers, we jumped at the opportunity.”

AAFA thanks Tarkett for its donation and commitment to improving indoor environments for kids with asthma.