ASPIRE Health Tulare County (ASPIREHealth)

October 26, 2023 updated by: Ann Chelminski, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

ASPIRE (Advancing Science Partnerships for Indoor Reductions of Smoke Exposures)-Health Tulare County

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.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background and rationale: The motivation for this research is that wildfires have been increasing in frequency and severity in recent years. Wildfire smoke is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. Public health guidance during wildfire events has included recommendations to stay indoors, close doors and windows, and use portable air cleaners (PACs) to clean the smoke that infiltrates the indoor environment. Studies support the effectiveness of PACs in reducing indoor fine particulate matter, (PM2.5=fine particles 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller), one of the main components of concern in wildfire smoke.

Evidence of whether PAC use is associated with health benefits is mixed. In addition, commercially-available PACs can be expensive and hard to access. An affordable alternative that gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic is a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) PAC, made from a box fan and high efficiency filter(s). Laboratory studies have shown DIY PACs to have excellent clean air delivery rates (CADR, a measure of effectiveness) with respect to fine particulate matter. However, their evidence in real-world settings is limited. Researchers have acknowledged that behaviors, such as turning on/off the fans, could have major impacts on efficacy.

The current study aims to examine the effect of PACs on indoor air quality and health during wildfire smoke exposure. The investigators will conduct this research in an agricultural community in central California that has experienced wildfire smoke exposure and routinely experiences dust. According to local partners, most residents of this county do not already own PACs. One risk of planning a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) of wildfire smoke exposure is that wildfire smoke will not occur. For this reason, the investigators selected a community with historically elevated levels of particle pollution (PM2.5, PM10, dust) in the fall and winter months as the study site. If wildfire smoke exposure does not occur during the study period, the efficacy of the DIY PACs on indoor air quality and health will be tested during periods of dust/high particle pollution exposure (anticipated October 2023).

Up to 120 recruited and consented study participants will be randomly divided into 2 groups. One group will use an effective DIY air cleaner (intervention); the other group will use a sham DIY air cleaner (control). All groups will have the same basic exposure to ambient air pollution.

Qualified participants will agree to have air quality sensors and door monitors placed in their home (bedroom and main exterior door). Air quality will be measured continuously during the study period. Other study activities will occur intermittently, during 5 visits by study staff to the participant's home. These activities will include completing 2 symptom and demographic questionnaires, collecting air and dust samples from inside the homes and collecting biological samples at 3 visits (capillary blood (by fingerstick) and nasal epithelial lining fluid). Blood and nasal fluid collected will be assessed for markers of inflammation and immune system activation. The investigators hypothesize that subjects in the intervention group will have reduced concentrations of measured air pollutants in their indoor air samples and lower levels of markers of inflammation compared to those in the control group. The investigators further hypothesize that symptoms, particularly related to respiratory inflammation, will differ between intervention (air filtration) and control (sham filtration) groups. Baseline measurements and post-intervention period measurements will be compared for intra-individual change and differences between study groups.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

80

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Fresno, California, United States, 93727
        • Central California Environmental Justice Network

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 years or older
  • Has access to telephone and/or the internet for study communication
  • Is a resident of Tulare County, California
  • Is proficient in English or Spanish for study communication

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Anyone in the household smokes (tobacco, vape, or other) inside the home
  • Plans to move before November 2023
  • Regularly travels or sleeps away from home (e.g., once a week or more)
  • Already owns and uses a portable air cleaner
  • Lives in a multi-unit home with a shared central HVAC system
  • Has a bleeding disorder, such as hemophilia (taking a blood thinning medication does not exclude)
  • Takes any of the following anti-inflammatory medications regularly: abatacept (Orencia), adalimumab(Humira), anakinra (Kineret), anifrolumab (Saphnelo), apremilast (Otezla), azathioprine (Imuran),certolizumab pegol (Cimzia), etanercept (Enbrel), golimumab (Simponi Aria), hydroxychloroquine(Plaquenil), infliximab (Remicade), ixekizumab (Taltz), leflunomide (Arava), methotrexate(Rheumatrex, Trexall), prednisone (Deltasone), sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), rituximab (Rituxan,MabThera), sarilumab (Kevzara), tocilizumab (Actemra)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Intervention arm
Subjects in the treatment arm will use a DIY portable air cleaner made by attaching a highly effective furnace filter (MERV 13) and carbon absorbent to a box fan.
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.
Sham Comparator: Control arm
Subjects in the control arm will use a DIY portable air cleaner with a sham filter. All subjects will receive education on air quality, wildfire smoke, and health.
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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Difference in change in concentrations of biomarkers of inflammation between treatment and control groups
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (pre-intervention) and at two timepoints, at least 3 days apart, during the portable air cleaner usage period (intervention)
Markers of inflammation include C-reactive protein obtained from fingerstick blood samples
Measured at baseline (pre-intervention) and at two timepoints, at least 3 days apart, during the portable air cleaner usage period (intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Difference in change in concentrations of biomarkers of inflammation between treatment and control groups
Time Frame: Measured at Baseline and at two timepoints, at least 3 days apart, during the portable air cleaner usage period (intervention)
Markers of inflammation obtained from nasal epithelial lining fluid analyses
Measured at Baseline and at two timepoints, at least 3 days apart, during the portable air cleaner usage period (intervention)
Symptom data
Time Frame: At baseline and at one timepoint during portable air cleaner use
Symptom/clinical data obtained from questionnaires
At baseline and at one timepoint during portable air cleaner use

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
air quality measurements
Time Frame: Continuous measurement lasting up to 15 weeks
Concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and volatile organic compounds in air inside participants' homes
Continuous measurement lasting up to 15 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Collaborators

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ann N Chelminski, MD, MPH, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Principal Investigator: Nayamin Martinez, MPH, Central California Environmental Justice Network

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 29, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2023

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 31, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 6, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

July 13, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 27, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 26, 2023

Last Verified

October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 23-0965

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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