Important facts about asthma and the environment include: (1) Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting about 25 million people of all ages and races, including about 7 million children; (2) Nearly one in 10 school-aged children has asthma, and the percentage of children with asthma is rising more rapidly in preschool-aged children than in any other age group; (3) Asthma accounts for 13 million lost days of school missed annually, and is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to a chronic illness; (4) Asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children; (5) There were 185 children who died from asthma in 2007; (6) The cost of treating asthma in children and adults was $50.1 billion in 2007, or about $3,300 per person; (7) Indoor contaminants and the outside environment can aggravate asthma or can cause new cases of asthma; (8) Indoor exposures can be 100-1,000 times more intense than outdoor exposures; (9) Schools are the workplaces of children, they are required to be there by law, yet the GAO estimates that roughly a third of schools have poor indoor air quality and that 14 million children are in buildings that threaten their health; (10) Schools with healthier indoor air have: fewer asthma attacks, better attendance, fewer bronchitis and upper respiratory illnesses, fewer visits to the school nurse with complaints of stomachaches, headache, sinus infection; and (11) Federal laws require schools to provide a "free appropriate public education" and to provide accommodations to students, including those with health problems, like serious asthma, that affect learning. Parents of children with asthma should be aware that asthma can be seriously aggravated by the environment, and that controlling asthma "triggers" can reduce a child's discomfort and health problems caused by asthma. Parents should also be aware that any medication has side effects, some of them potentially serious. A chart containing reliever medications for asthma, controller medications for asthma, and common adverse side effects is provided. (Contains 14 resources.)