About the study

In the ROC HOME study we are looking at how housing rehabilitation programs affect levels of common contaminants in the home. The study included 84 households that participated in the City of Rochester's Lead Hazard Control (LHC) grant program. As part of your study participation, we collected dust samples from your home up to three different times. We also asked you questions about products in your home, how you clean, and other features of your house. In the substudy, called ERSHH, 52 participants provided urine samples at their second and third ROC HOME visits.  

Our goal in ROC HOME and the substudy is to answer the following questions: 

• Can LHC work reduce exposures to other common contaminants in the home?
• Does providing residents with information and resources help further improve and maintain home health over the longer term? 
• Do the chemicals measured in household dust get into residents’ bodies?
• How does providing participants with information about the chemicals in their homes and urine affect them?

Contaminants in the study

In ROC HOME, we tested the dust from the main living area in your home for:

• Lead
• Mouse and cockroach allergens
• Environmental chemicals:
  • flame retardant chemicals 
  • pesticides
  • phthalates (pronounced tha-lates) -- chemicals used in plastics, cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products
  • fragrance chemicals

We also tested dust from the kitchen and bedroom for lead, and tested dust from the kitchen for allergens. In the substudy, we tested urine samples for some of the same environmental chemicals measured in household dust.

This report

This report shares your personal results for the contaminants we measured in your dust and urine samples as well as what we have learned so far from the ROC HOME study as a whole. By clicking through the report website or paging through the printed report, you can learn more about where these contaminants come from, their links to health, and how to reduce levels of these contaminants in your home and your urine. You may wish to discuss these results with your family or others living in your home.

If you have any questions after reading the report, contact the ROC HOME study team at (585) 301-6815. You can also visit rochome.urmc.edu for more information.