TY - JOUR
T1 - Indoor air quality in inner-city schools and its associations with building characteristics and environmental factors
AU - Majd, Ehsan
AU - McCormack, Meredith
AU - Davis, Meghan
AU - Curriero, Frank
AU - Berman, Jesse
AU - Connolly, Faith
AU - Leaf, Philip
AU - Rule, Ana
AU - Green, Timothy
AU - Clemons-Erby, Dorothy
AU - Gummerson, Christine
AU - Koehler, Kirsten
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2019/3
Y1 - 2019/3
N2 - Indoor concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured across 16 urban public schools in three different seasons. Exceedance of the WHO guidelines for indoor air was observed, mainly for the hourly average NO2 concentrations. Seasonal variability was statistically significant for indoor NO2 and CO concentrations, with higher exposures in fall and winter. An extensive list of potential factors at the outdoor environment, school, and room level that may explain the variability in indoor exposure was examined. Factors with significant contributions to indoor exposure were mostly related to the outdoor pollution sources. This is evidenced by the strong associations between indoor concentration of CO and NO2 and factors including outdoor PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, including length of the nearby roads and the number of nearby industrial facilities. Additionally, we found that poor conditions of the buildings (a prevalent phenomenon in the studied urban area), including physical defects and lack of proper ventilation, contributed to poor air quality in schools. The results suggest that improving building conditions and facilities as well as a consideration of the school surroundings may improve indoor air quality in schools.
AB - Indoor concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured across 16 urban public schools in three different seasons. Exceedance of the WHO guidelines for indoor air was observed, mainly for the hourly average NO2 concentrations. Seasonal variability was statistically significant for indoor NO2 and CO concentrations, with higher exposures in fall and winter. An extensive list of potential factors at the outdoor environment, school, and room level that may explain the variability in indoor exposure was examined. Factors with significant contributions to indoor exposure were mostly related to the outdoor pollution sources. This is evidenced by the strong associations between indoor concentration of CO and NO2 and factors including outdoor PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, including length of the nearby roads and the number of nearby industrial facilities. Additionally, we found that poor conditions of the buildings (a prevalent phenomenon in the studied urban area), including physical defects and lack of proper ventilation, contributed to poor air quality in schools. The results suggest that improving building conditions and facilities as well as a consideration of the school surroundings may improve indoor air quality in schools.
KW - Building characteristics
KW - Environmental factors
KW - Exposure
KW - Indoor air quality
KW - School
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2018.12.012
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2018.12.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 30576993
AN - SCOPUS:85058522057
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 170
SP - 83
EP - 91
JO - Environmental research
JF - Environmental research
ER -