A 2016 research study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University explored healthy home concerns and behaviors among American homeowners and renters. One specific topic that they explored was how people discovered issues.

The researchers asked 414 respondents who expressed an intention to act on specific healthy housing projects, "Among the following healthy home actions your household has taken, plans to undertake or would like to undertake, please indicate how the related health issue(s) and/or risks(s) came to your household’s attention.”  

They found that homeowners cited a diverse range of information sources. Fully two-thirds of them took action because they developed symptoms they felt were related to their home. The next most frequent channel of information or awareness of healthy housing issues was the internet/ media/ the web. To a lesser extent, friends, relatives, neighbors and building contractors also served as a source of information on healthy housing risks. Medical professionals scored lower as a source of healthy housing information. While these categories are quite broad, they provide an impressionistic sense of how households become aware of housing problems.

Read the full study here: healthy_homes_wolfson_la_jeunesse