Indoor air quality and health in schools

Objective: To determine whether indoor air quality in schools is associated with the prevalence of allergic and respiratory diseases in children. Methods: We evaluated 1,019 students at 51 elementary schools in the city of Coimbra, Portugal. We applied a questionnaire that included questions regarding the demographic, social, and behavioral characteristics of students, as well as the presence of smoking in the family. We also evaluated the indoor air quality in the schools. Results: In the indoor air of the schools evaluated, we identified mean concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) above the maximum reference value, especially during the fall and winter. The CO2 concentration was sometimes as high as 1,942 ppm, implying a considerable health risk for the children. The most prevalent symptoms and respiratory diseases identified in the children were sneezing, rales, wheezing, rhinitis, and asthma. Other signs and symptoms, such as poor concentration, cough, headache, and irritation of mucous membranes, were identified. Lack of concentration was associated with CO2 concentrations above the maximum recommended level in indoor air (p = 0.002). There were no other significant associations. Conclusions: Most of the schools evaluated presented with reasonable air quality and thermal comfort. However, the concentrations of various pollutants, especially CO2, suggest the need for corrective interventions, such as reducing air pollutant sources and improving ventilation. There was a statistically significant association between lack of concentration in the children and exposure to high levels of CO2. The overall low level of pollution in the city of Coimbra might explain the lack of other significant associations.

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The Indoor Air Quality in Laboratory Buildings. A Case Study in Integrated Laboratory of UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya

KnE Social Sciences ◽

10.18502/kss.v3i21.5018 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Widya Nilandita ◽

Ida Munfarida ◽

M Ratodi ◽

Dyah Ratri Nurmaningsih ◽

Dedy Suprayogi

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Air Quality ◽

Relative Humidity ◽

Thermal Comfort ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Co2 Concentration ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is one of the critical issues in sustainable development related to human health as the primary goal. Sustainable development should address potential human exposure to pollutants and health impacts. The laboratory, as educational support in the university, has specific contaminants, but studies on IAQ and thermal comfort in the laboratory have not been studied. IAQ and thermal comfort in a laboratory are essential as they can affect the work and health of the researchers and staffs. The purpose of this study is to analyze indoor air quality in an integrated laboratory of UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. This research is a cross-sectional study. Data analysis was done by a quantitative descriptive method. The air quality parameters in the laboratory were temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. All settings compared to the air quality standard. The analysis on carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, relative humidity (%RH), temperature (∘C) has shown that the indoor air does not exceed the standard according to ASHRAE standard and Health Ministry Regulation with the maximum concentration was 444,3 ppm. The fan installation and increased air filter to controlled humidity are the option to improve the indoor air quality.

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Effects of Climatic Conditions, Season and Environmental Factors on CO2 Concentrations in Naturally Ventilated Primary Schools in Chile

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084139 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4139

Author(s):

Muriel Diaz ◽

Mario Cools ◽

Maureen Trebilcock ◽

Beatriz Piderit-Moreno ◽

Shady Attia

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Co2 Concentration ◽

Building Design ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Indoor Environmental Quality ◽

Co2 Concentrations ◽

The Impact

Between the ages of 6 and 18, children spend between 30 and 42 h a week at school, mostly indoors, where indoor environmental quality is usually deficient and does not favor learning. The difficulty of delivering indoor air quality (IAQ) in learning facilities is related to high occupancy rates and low interaction levels with windows. In non-industrialized countries, as in the cases presented, most classrooms have no mechanical ventilation, due to energy poverty and lack of normative requirements. This fact heavily impacts the indoor air quality and students’ learning outcomes. The aim of the paper is to identify the factors that determine acceptable CO2 concentrations. Therefore, it studies air quality in free-running and naturally ventilated primary schools in Chile, aiming to identify the impact of contextual, occupant, and building design factors, using CO2 concentration as a proxy for IAQ. The monitoring of CO2, temperature, and humidity revealed that indoor air CO2 concentration is above 1400 ppm most of the time, with peaks of 5000 ppm during the day, especially in winter. The statistical analysis indicates that CO2 is dependent on climate, seasonality, and indoor temperature, while it is independent of outside temperature in heated classrooms. The odds of having acceptable concentrations of CO2 are bigger when indoor temperatures are high, and there is a need to ventilate for cooling.

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First steps in the development of a possible measurement method to estimate the radon concentration as an indicator of the indoor air quality

Nuclear Technology and Radiation Protection ◽

10.2298/ntrp140ss52r ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 29 (suppl.) ◽

pp. 52-58

Author(s):

Franz Roessler ◽

Jai Azzam ◽

Volker Grimm ◽

Hans Hingmann ◽

Tina Orovwighose ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Exchange Rate ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Primary Energy ◽

Air Pollutant ◽

Daily Routine ◽

Air Exchange Rate ◽

Pollutant Concentrations ◽

Air Exchange

The energy conservation regulation provides upper limits for the annual primary energy requirements for new buildings and old building renovation. The actions required could accompany a reduction of the air exchange rate and cause a degradation of the indoor air quality. In addition to climate and building specific aspects, the air exchange rate is essentially affected by the residents. Present methods for the estimation of the indoor air quality can only be effected under test conditions, whereby the influence of the residents cannot be considered and so an estimation under daily routine cannot be ensured. In the context of this contribution first steps of a method are presented, that allows an estimation of the progression of the air exchange rate under favourable conditions by using radon as an indicator. Therefore mathematical connections are established that could be affirmed practically in an experimental set-up. So this method could provide a tool that allows the estimation of the progression of the air exchange rate and in a later step the estimation of a correlating progression of air pollutant concentrations without limitations of using the dwelling.

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Remote Work and the Environment: Exploratory Analysis of Indoor Air Quality of Commercial Offices and the Home Office

10.21203/rs.3.rs-146008/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kamrie Sarnosky ◽

Mark Benden ◽

Leslie Cizmas ◽

Annette Regan ◽

Garett Sansom

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Indoor Air Pollution ◽

Home Office ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Home Based ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

Total Volatile Organic Compounds

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend of individuals increasingly working remotely. With the growing popularity of remote working, specifically in a home office, there is a critical need to better understand and characterize the potential environmental differences between these two spaces. Indoor air pollution can have adverse health effects and impair cognitive functioning. Methods: This small pilot cohort study (N=22) recruited home and office workers to better understand the indoor air quality between these spaces. Air contaminants collected and assessed included PM10 and PM2.5, carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Results: Findings showed a strong statistically significant increase in all measured variables within homes in comparison to traditional offices (p<0.001). For instance, The mean PM2.5 level in the traditional office space was 1.93 µg/m3 whereas it was more than twice this amount (5.97 µg/m3) in home offices.Conclusion: These results indicate that those who work from home are at increased risk due to longer exposures to higher levels of certain contaminants, the importance to better develop interventions to mitigate this reality is underscored by the fact that many workers will be moving to home-based offices in the coming years.

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Mitigation Strategies for Overheating and High Carbon Dioxide Concentration within Institutional Buildings: A Case Study in Toronto, Canada

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings10070124 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 124 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Claire Tam ◽

Yuqing Zhao ◽

Zaiyi Liao ◽

Lian Zhao

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Air Temperature ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Indoor Environment ◽

Thermal Conditions ◽

Co2 Concentration ◽

Hvac System

Indoor air quality and thermal conditions are important considerations when designing indoor spaces to ensure occupant health, satisfaction, and productivity. Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and indoor air temperature are two measurable parameters to assess air quality and thermal conditions within a space. Occupants are progressively affected by the indoor environment as the time spent indoors prolongs. Specifically, there is an interest in carrying out investigations on the indoor environment through surveying existing Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) system operations in classrooms. Indoor air temperature and CO2 concentration in multiple lecture halls in Toronto, Canada were monitored; observations consistently show high indoor air temperature (overheating) and high CO2 concentration. One classroom is chosen as a representative case study for this paper. The results verify a strong correlation between the number of occupants and the increase in air temperature and CO2 concentration. Building Energy Simulation (BES) is used to investigate the causes of discomfort in the classroom, and to identify methods for regulating the temperature and CO2 concentration. This paper proposes retro-commissioning strategies that could be implemented in institutional buildings; specifically, the increase of outdoor airflow rate and the addition of occupancy-based pre-active HVAC system control. The proposed retrofit cases reduce the measured overheating in the classrooms by 2-3 °C (indoor temperature should be below 23 °C) and maintain CO2 concentration under 900 ppm (the CO2 threshold is 1000 ppm), showing promising improvements to a classroom’s thermal condition and indoor air quality.

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Indoor Air Quality Evaluation of Commercial Buildings In Kuantan

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201822505018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 225 ◽

pp. 05018

Author(s):

Noor Huwaida Yahaya ◽

Ftwi Yohaness Hagos ◽

Mohamad Firdaus Basrawi

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Quality Evaluation ◽

Commercial Buildings ◽

Volatile Organic ◽

Health And Illness ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

Pm 10 ◽

Respirable Particulate

This work focuses on indoor air quality evaluation of commercial buildings in Kuantan. Some buildings have been selected to monitor indoor air quality. The research has been carried out only in Kuantan, which focused on hotels and government buildings. Some sample measurements were taken which include air temperature, relative humidity, and air movement, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), respirable particulate matter (PM 10), formaldehyde and total volatile organic compound (TVOC). In addition, questionnaires were conducted on a number of workers in each building to determine the level of health and illness caused by air in the building where they work. Hence, this study has analyzed the link between the questioner results and the results of indoor air measurements that were carried out. From surveys, it appears there are four buildings that have low air flow, four buildings have a lot of dust and five buildings have a high temperature. In contrast, four buildings have a good indoor air quality.

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Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Concentration Prediction Model and Diffusion Tendency of Expiratory by Simultaneous Multipoint Sensing

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10134631 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (13) ◽

pp. 4631

Author(s):

Motokazu Moritani ◽

Norifumi Watanabe ◽

Kensuke Miyamoto ◽

Kota Itoda ◽

Junya Imani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Prediction Model ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽

Predicted Values ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

Intellectual Activities ◽

And Diffusion

Recent indoor air quality studies show that even 1000 parts per million (ppm) concentration of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) has an adverse effect on human intellectual activities. Therefore, it is required to keep the CO 2 concentration below a certain value in a room. In this study, in order to analyze the diffusion tendency of carbon dioxide by breathing, we constructed a simultaneous multi-point sensing system equipped with a carbon dioxide concentration sensor to measure indoor environment. Furthermore, it was evaluated whether the prediction model can be effectively used by comparing the prediction value by the model and the actually measured value from the sensor. The experimental results showed that CO 2 by exhaled breathing diffuses evenly throughout the room regardless of the sensor’s relative positions to the human test subjects. The existing model is sufficiently accurate in a room which has above at least a 0.67 cycle/h ventilation cycle. However, there is a large gap between the measured and the model’s predicted values in a room with a low ventilation cycle, and that suggests a measurement with a sensor still is necessary to precisely monitor the indoor air quality.

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Method for Estimation of CO2 Gains from Persons in Builidings

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2201309 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (20) ◽

pp. 1309 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Antonio Rodero ◽

Dorota Anna Krawczyk

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽

Co2 Concentration ◽

Males And Females ◽

Sources Of Co2

Carbon dioxide concentration is an important parameter to know Indoor Air Quality of a building. One of the most important sources of CO2 in poor ventilated building is human activity. This work presents a method for experimental determination of human CO2 generation rate based on measuring of time evolution of indoor CO2 concentration. The method is applied to 5 rooms of an educational building from Bialystok (Poland). Similar carbon dioxide gains were obtained in all rooms, around 0.0046 L/s, which correspond to theoretical CO2 generation rates of a sedentary activity for persons, males and females, between 21–30 years old, characteristics of occupants of analyzed rooms.

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The Influence of Surgical Staff Behavior on Air Quality in a Conventionally Ventilated Operating Theatre during a Simulated Arthroplasty: A Case Study at the University Hospital of Parma

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17020452 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 452

Author(s):

Cesira Pasquarella ◽

Carla Balocco ◽

Maria Eugenia Colucci ◽

Elisa Saccani ◽

Samuel Paroni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Co2 Concentration ◽

University Hospital ◽

Surgical Team ◽

Operating Theatres ◽

Turbulent Air Flow ◽

Air Conditioning Systems ◽

Staff Behavior

Surgical staff behavior in operating theatres is one of the factors associated with indoor air quality and surgical site infection risk. The aim of this study was to apply an approach including microbiological, particle, and microclimate parameters during two simulated surgical hip arthroplasties to evaluate the influence of staff behavior on indoor air quality. During the first hip arthroplasty, the surgical team behaved correctly, but in the second operation, behavioral recommendations were not respected. Microbiological contamination was evaluated by active and passive methods. The air velocity, humidity, temperature, and CO2 concentration were also monitored. The highest levels of microbial and particle contamination, as well as the highest variation in the microclimate parameter, were recorded during the surgical operation where the surgical team behaved “incorrectly”. Turbulent air flow ventilation systems appeared more efficient than in the past and very low air microbial contamination was reached when behavior was correct. Therefore, adherence to behavioral recommendations in operating theatres is essential to not undermine the effectiveness of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and employed resources.

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Indoor Air Quality Assessment Based on Human Physiology - Part 1. New Criteria Proposal

Acta Polytechnica ◽

10.14311/492 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 43 (6) ◽

Author(s):

M. V. Jokl

Keyword(s):

Human Physiology ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Human Perception ◽

Odor Intensity ◽

Air Quality Assessment ◽

Volatile Organic ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

New Criteria

Human physiology research makes evident that the Weber-Fechner law applies not only to noise perception but also to the perception of other environmental components. Based on this fact, new decibel units for dor component representing indoor air quality in majority locations have been proposed: decicarbdiox dCd (for carbon dioxide CO2) and decitvoc dTv (for total volatile organic compound TVOC). Equations of these new units have been proved by application of a) experimental relationships between odor intensity (representing odor perception by the human body) and odor concentrations of CO2 and TVOC, b) individually measured CO2 and TVOC levels (concentrations) – from these new decibel units can be calculated and their values compared with decibel units of noise measured in the same locations. The undoubted benefit of using the decibel scale is that it gives much better approximation to human perception of odor intensity compared to the CO2 and TVOC concentration scales.

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