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

Sandra E. Zaeh, Kirsten Koehler, Michelle N. Eakin, Christopher Wohn, Ike Diibor, Thomas Eckmann, Tianshi David Wu, Dorothy Clemons-Erby, Christine E. Gummerson, Timothy Green, Megan Wood, Ehsan Majd, Marc L. Stein, Ana Rule, Meghan F. Davis and Meredith C. McCormack
Additional contact information
Sandra E. Zaeh: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Kirsten Koehler: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Michelle N. Eakin: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Christopher Wohn: Baltimore City Public Schools, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Ike Diibor: Baltimore City Public Schools, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Thomas Eckmann: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Tianshi David Wu: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Dorothy Clemons-Erby: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Christine E. Gummerson: Division of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Timothy Green: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Megan Wood: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Ehsan Majd: Division of Mobile Source Control, California Air Resources Board, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA
Marc L. Stein: Johns Hopkins School of Education, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Ana Rule: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Meghan F. Davis: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
Meredith C. McCormack: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-14

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 (CO 2 , 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 CO 2 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 CO 2 measurements and 28% of indoor temperatures fell outside of the recommended ranges. Linear mixed models showed significant improvement in CO 2 , 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.

Keywords: schools; indoor air quality; renovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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