# Action towards health equity and improved air quality in the Duwamish Valley: A multilevel asthma intervention

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $508,568

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Georgetown and South Park communities of the Duwamish Valley (DV) face higher levels of
environmental pollution and poorer health outcomes compared to the rest of Seattle. For many years the
communities have organized to address these environmental and health disparities, prioritizing air pollution
and asthma. Our proposal is (1) directly responsive to community requests, (2) strengthens previous
community-academic-government partnerships in the DV, (3) advances the environmental health interests of
the community, (4) investigates low-cost tools for the measurement and control of air pollution, and (5)
evaluates individual and community empowerment throughout all phases of research and action. This
multilevel community engaged research (CEnR) project proposes elements that will engage and empower
members of the DV community. The household-level intervention - providing participants with indoor air filters -
has the goal of improving indoor air quality and reducing asthma symptoms in children. In contrast with
previous studies investigating high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration, our intervention will evaluate the
effectiveness of low-cost box fans equipped with lower-efficiency filters with greater airflow. The low-cost filters
will be coupled with established home-based multicomponent, multi-trigger indoor air quality assessment of
homes. We will conduct a randomized control trial to rigorously evaluate differences between intervention and
control households in asthma outcomes such as symptoms and forced expiratory volume and in
concentrations of indoor particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC). Promotores and healthy home
consultants recruited from the community will be instrumental in carrying out the intervention. At the community
level, we will expand community-driven ambient air monitoring campaigns, prioritizing the characterization of
traffic-related air pollution, identification of pollutant sources, and emissions reductions. The use of a low-cost
monitoring network will improve the spatial resolution of air quality data in the DV, enabling us to identify PM,
BC and nitrogen dioxide hotspots. Youth from the well-established Duwamish Valley Youth Corp program will
be trained in various aspects of air monitoring to help carry out the campaign. Armed with data on air quality,
community members (who will also be trained in policy advocacy) can advocate for structural change including
policy, infrastructure improvements such as urban green space, and targeted regulation of industrial and/or
transportation emissions. Throughout the project, independent evaluation of individual and community
engagement and empowerment will be tracked. From defining scientific goals, to project implementation and
evaluation, our CEnR approach is designed to engage and empower a resilient community in its goal to
advance health equity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10775739
- **Project number:** 5R01ES034749-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Anjum Hajat
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $508,568
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-02-06 → 2027-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10775739

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10775739, Action towards health equity and improved air quality in the Duwamish Valley: A multilevel asthma intervention (5R01ES034749-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-13 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10775739. Licensed CC0.

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