Estudo exploratorio da qualidade do ar em escolas de educacao basica, Coimbra, Portugal

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo analyze the air quality in elementary schools and their structural and functional conditions.METHODSAir quality in 51 elementary schools (81 classrooms) in the city of Coimbra, Portugal, both inside and outside of the rooms was evaluated during the four seasons, from 2010 to 2011. Temperature (T°), relative humidity (Hr), concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), compounds were evaluated, as were volatile organics (VOC), formaldehyde and particulate matter (PM10), from November 2010 to February 2011 (autumn/winter) and March 2011 to June 2011 (spring/summer). A grid characterizing the structural and functional conditions of the schools was created. The statistical Student t test for paired samples and the Wilcoxon t test were applied.RESULTSIn 47 schools, the average CO2concentrations were above the maximum reference concentration (984 ppm) mentioned in Portuguese legislation. The maximum concentration values found inside the rooms were critical, especially in the fall/winter (5,320 ppm). In some schools the average concentrations of VOC and PM10within the maximum concentration exceeded the reference legislated. The values (risk) of CO, formaldehyde, NO2, SO2and O3detected were not relevant.CONCLUSIONSThere was a higher concentration of pollutants inside the rooms compared with outside. Inadequate ventilation is associated with high CO2concentration in the classroom.

Indoor carbon dioxide concentrations in Croatian elementary school classrooms during the heating season

“…Particularly high CO 2 levels (going over the upper quantification limit of 9689 mg/m 3 ) were found in computer classes. Similar findings reported earlier (26)(27)(28) indicate that low air quality in computer classes could be a result of In our study, CO 2 concentrations in the classrooms were higher than those reported in Serbia (19) and Portugal (17), where mean values ranged from 2093 to 2484 mg/m 3 , but are consistent with another Serbian study (20) conducted in five rural and urban elementary schools during the heating season, with mean values going up to 3627 mg/m 3 . Similar to ours were also the results of a study conducted in Albanian schools during the cold season, which often exceeded 1938 mg/m 3 at the beginning of the first morning class and ranged between 3225 and 9069 mg/m 3 (18).…”

“…Similar variations have also been reported elsewhere (20). Like in Portuguese schools (17), the classrooms were poorly ventilated due to noise, rain, and cold weather. Furthermore, windows were not opened for ventilation overnight for security reasons.…”

“…In educational facilities, indoor CO 2 concentration serves as an indicator of indor air quality (15), and several studies have assessed CO 2 concentrations in indoor school environment and children's exposure to indoor pollution (16)(17)(18)(19)(20).…”

Personal exposure measurements of school-children to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in winter of 2013, Shanghai, China

“…The importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) in school environments has been globally highlighted [ 24 , 25 ]. In our investigation, the PM 2.5 concentration of all school micro-environments greatly exceeded the secondary standard of daily 24-h PM 2.5 Ambient Air Quality Standards of China (75μg/ m 3 )[ 20 ], the current U.S. EPA daily ambient standard of 35 μg/m 3 [ 21 ], and the WHO Air Quality Guideline of 25μg/m 3 [ 22 ].…”