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Indoor Air Quality Prior to and Following School Building Renovation in a Mid-Atlantic School District.

ABSTRACT: Children spend the majority of their time indoors, and a substantial portion of this time in the school environment. Air pollution has been shown to adversely impact lung development and has effects that extend beyond respiratory health. The goal of this study was to evaluate the indoor environment in public schools in the context of an ongoing urban renovation program to investigate the impact of school building renovation and replacement on indoor air quality. Indoor air quality (CO₂, PM_2.5, CO, and temperature) was assessed for two weeks during fall, winter, and spring seasons in 29 urban public schools between December 2015 and March 2020. Seven schools had pre- and post-renovation data available. Linear mixed models were used to examine changes in air quality outcomes by renovation status in the seven schools with pre- and post-renovation data. Prior to renovation, indoor CO measurements were within World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, and indoor PM_2.5 measurements rarely exceeded them. Within the seven schools with pre- and post-renovation data, over 30% of indoor CO₂ measurements and over 50% of indoor temperatures exceeded recommended guidelines from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers. Following renovation, 10% of indoor CO₂ measurements and 28% of indoor temperatures fell outside of the recommended ranges. Linear mixed models showed significant improvement in CO₂, indoor PM_2.5, and CO following school renovation. Even among schools that generally met recommendations on key guidelines, school renovation improved the indoor air quality. Our findings suggest that school renovation may benefit communities of children, particularly those in low-income areas with aging school infrastructure, through improvements in the indoor environment.

SUBMITTER: Zaeh SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8624555 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Building renovations can adversely affect building occupants through the release of biological contaminants, gases and particulates. In this study, the research aim was to monitor the air quality of a renovated building and assess the impact of sick building syndrome (SBS) on the occupants. Post occupancy monitoring of the building was carried out after two months occupancy for the following environmental parameters: airborne microflora using an air sampler (SAS super 180) and a hand-held monitoring device (Graywolf advance sense IQ-610) to measure total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), CO2, CO and temperature and relative humidity in each office environment. In addition, an online (Qualtrics) structured questionnaire was used to assess occupants' perceptions of the indoor environment. Results of the airborne flora showed 833 cfu/m3 recovered on a Malt Extract Agar (MEA) plate in the morning and 1213 cfu/m3 in the afternoon. A similar result was noticed on a Plate Count Agar (PCA) plate during the morning period (731 cfu/m3) and afternoon (1358 cfu/m3). Results of TVOC monitored over one week showed that the first two days of monitoring had a high reading that peaked at 10,837 ppb and that the CO2 concentration during that period was 1163 ppm. Online questionnaire analysis indicates that a majority of the staff who took part in the survey experienced some form of health abnormality, including headache, shortness of breath, itchy eyes/ears, loss of concentration and so on, especially in the first few weeks of returning to the office. The results from the study indicate that a large proportion (41%) of the respondents experienced thermal discomfort as a result of varying room temperature during their working hours. A high number of female participants experienced some form of SBS as compared to their male counterparts. The study findings show a direct relationship between high airborne mold counts, TVOC and adverse staff health perception of the building. The study raised a number of opportunities for estate managers to improve building performance based on occupants' preferences.

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Indoor Air Quality Prior to and Following School Building Renovation in a Mid-Atlantic School District.

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