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Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools.

ABSTRACT: Indoor air pollution mitigation measures are highly important due to the associated health impacts, especially on children, a risk group that spends significant time indoors. Thus, the main goal of the work here reported was the evaluation of mitigation measures implemented in nursery and primary schools to improve air quality. Continuous measurements of CO?, CO, NO?, O?, CH?O, total volatile organic compounds (VOC), PM?, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and radon, as well as temperature and relative humidity were performed in two campaigns, before and after the implementation of low-cost mitigation measures. Evaluation of those mitigation measures was performed through the comparison of the concentrations measured in both campaigns. Exceedances to the values set by the national legislation and World Health Organization (WHO) were found for PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO? and CH?O during both indoor air quality campaigns. Temperature and relative humidity values were also above the ranges recommended by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). In general, pollutant concentrations measured after the implementation of low-cost mitigation measures were significantly lower, mainly for CO?. However, mitigation measures were not always sufficient to decrease the pollutants' concentrations till values considered safe to protect human health.

SUBMITTER: Sa JP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5486271 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools.

Sá Juliana P JP Branco Pedro T B S PTBS Alvim-Ferraz Maria C M MCM Martins Fernando G FG Sousa Sofia I V SIV

International journal of environmental research and public health 20170531 6

Indoor air pollution mitigation measures are highly important due to the associated health impacts, especially on children, a risk group that spends significant time indoors. Thus, the main goal of the work here reported was the evaluation of mitigation measures implemented in nursery and primary schools to improve air quality. Continuous measurements of CO₂, CO, NO₂, O₃, CH₂O, total volatile organic compounds (VOC), PM₁, PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and rad ...[more]

PMID: 28561795

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Project description:BackgroundIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bavarian State government announced several COVID-19 mitigation measures beginning on March 16, 2020, which likely led to a reduction in traffic and a subsequent improvement in air quality. In this study, we evaluated the short-term effect of COVID-19 mitigation measures on NO2 concentrations in Munich, Germany.MethodsWe applied two quasi-experimental approaches, a controlled interrupted time-series (c-ITS) approach and a synthetic control (SC) approach. Each approach compared changes occurring in 2020 to changes occurring in 2014-2019, and accounted for weather-related and other potential confounders. We hypothesized that the largest reductions in NO2 concentrations would be observed at traffic sites, with smaller reductions at urban background sites, and even small reductions, if any, at background sites. All hypotheses, as well as the main and additional analyses were defined a priori. We also conducted post-hoc analyses to ensure that observed effects were not due to factors other than the intervention.ResultsMain analyses largely supported our hypotheses. Specifically, at the two traffic sites, using the c-ITS approach we observed reductions of 9.34 ?g/m3 (95% confidence interval: -23.58; 4.90) and 10.02 ?g/m3 (-19.25; -0.79). Using the SC approach we observed reductions of 15.65 ?g/m3 (-27.58; -4.09) and 15.1 ?g/m3 (-24.82; -9.83) at these same sites. We observed effects ranging from smaller in magnitude to no effect at urban background and background sites. Additional analyses showed that the effect was largest in the first two weeks following introduction of measures, and that a 3-day lagged intervention time also showed a larger effect. Post-hoc analyses suggested that at least some of the observed effects may have been attributable to changes in air quality occurring before the intervention, as well as unusually high concentrations in January 2020.ConclusionWe applied two quasi-experimental approaches in assessing the impact of the COVID-19 mitigation measures on NO2 concentrations in Munich. Taking the 2020 pre-intervention average concentrations as a reference, we observed reductions in NO2 concentrations of approximately 15-25% and 24-36% at traffic sites, suggesting that reducing traffic may be an effective measure to reduce NO2 concentrations in heavily trafficked areas by margins which could translate to public health benefits.

Project description:IntroductionSchool-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies have greatly impacted the primary school day (children aged 3-11) including: wearing face coverings, two metre distancing, no mixing of children, and no breakfast clubs or extra-curricular activities. This study examines these mitigation measures and association with COVID-19 infection, respiratory infection, and school staff wellbeing between October to December 2020 in Wales, UK.MethodsA school staff survey captured self-reported COVID-19 mitigation measures in the school, participant anxiety and depression, and open-text responses regarding experiences of teaching and implementing measures. These survey responses were linked to national-scale COVID-19 test results data to examine association of measures in the school and the likelihood of a positive (staff or pupil) COVID-19 case in the school (clustered by school, adjusted for school size and free school meals using logistic regression). Linkage was conducted through the SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank.ResultsResponses were obtained from 353 participants from 59 primary schools within 15 of 22 local authorities. Having more direct non-household contacts was associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 positive case in the school (1-5 contacts compared to none, OR 2.89 (1.01, 8.31)) and a trend to more self-reported cold symptoms. Staff face covering was not associated with a lower odds of school COVID-19 cases (mask vs. no covering OR 2.82 (1.11, 7.14)) and was associated with higher self-reported cold symptoms. School staff reported the impacts of wearing face coverings on teaching, including having to stand closer to pupils and raise their voices to be heard. 67.1% were not able to implement two metre social distancing from pupils. We did not find evidence that maintaining a two metre distance was associated with lower rates of COVID-19 in the school.ConclusionsImplementing, adhering to and evaluating COVID-19 mitigation guidelines is challenging in primary school settings. Our findings suggest that reducing non-household direct contacts lowers infection rates. There was no evidence that face coverings, two metre social distancing or stopping children mixing was associated with lower odds of COVID-19 or cold infection rates in the school. Primary school staff found teaching challenging during COVID-19 restrictions, especially for younger learners and those with additional learning needs.

Project description:Analyses of the relationships between climate, air substances and health usually concentrate on urban environments because of increased urban temperatures, high levels of air pollution and the exposure of a large number of people compared to rural environments. Ongoing urbanization, demographic ageing and climate change lead to an increased vulnerability with respect to climate-related extremes and air pollution. However, systematic analyses of the specific local-scale characteristics of health-relevant atmospheric conditions and compositions in urban environments are still scarce because of the lack of high-resolution monitoring networks. In recent years, low-cost sensors (LCS) became available, which potentially provide the opportunity to monitor atmospheric conditions with a high spatial resolution and which allow monitoring directly at vulnerable people. In this study, we present the atmospheric exposure low-cost monitoring (AELCM) system for several air substances like ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter, as well as meteorological variables developed by our research group. The measurement equipment is calibrated using multiple linear regression and extensively tested based on a field evaluation approach at an urban background site using the high-quality measurement unit, the atmospheric exposure monitoring station (AEMS) for meteorology and air substances, of our research group. The field evaluation took place over a time span of 4 to 8 months. The electrochemical ozone sensors (SPEC DGS-O3: R2: 0.71-0.95, RMSE: 3.31-7.79 ppb) and particulate matter sensors (SPS30 PM1/PM2.5: R2: 0.96-0.97/0.90-0.94, RMSE: 0.77-1.07 µg/m3/1.27-1.96 µg/m3) showed the best performances at the urban background site, while the other sensors underperformed tremendously (SPEC DGS-NO2, SPEC DGS-CO, MQ131, MiCS-2714 and MiCS-4514). The results of our study show that meaningful local-scale measurements are possible with the former sensors deployed in an AELCM unit.

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Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools.

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Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools.

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