Study Shows Carpet No Factor in Asthma

Dalton, GA, April 21, 2011 -- A major study of inner city children with asthma confirms the carpet industry's assertion that clean, dry carpet is a healthy flooring choice for everyone, including children and adults with asthma and allergies, according to the Carpet and Rug Institute.

Citing the study "Results of a Home-Based Environmental Intervention among Urban Children with Asthma," published by The New England Journal of Medicine, CRI said the study showed that removing carpet from the bedrooms of asthmatic children made no difference in efforts among other efforts to improve their symptoms.

Elimination of tobacco smoke and improved cleaning in general did make a difference. No difference was found in the levels of allergens measured in carpeted homes compared to homes with hard surface floors, CRI said.

The study followed 937 children from seven major U.S. cities over the course of a year.

At the outset of the study, researchers sought to remove carpet from the children's bedrooms, but factors such as rental agreements kept them from it. Still, family members were instructed to remove the carpet from their children's bedrooms wherever possible.

Family members were given HEPA-filter vacuum cleaners and cleaning products and educated about various allergens and how to remove them from the home. Children's beds were encased in dust-mite-blocking covers, and professional pest exterminators were called in where needed.

Contrary to researchers' expectations, children with carpet in their bedrooms improved as much and did just as well as children who had hard surface floors.

The interventions also produced marked declines in the measured levels of allergens in the home. Again, in contrast to predictions, no difference in allergen reduction was found between homes with carpets and those without carpeting, CRI said.

The study was sponsored in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health.