Children attending day care centers (CDCC) have been reported to be more prone to infectious diseases when compared with those cared for at home, and are exposed to conditions that may increase the risk of allergies and asthma. Several studies revealed that consequences of poor ventilation conditions include high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and many other indoor pollutants commonly detected in schools. Nine child day care centers were selected randomly to participate in this study. Fifty-two classrooms were assessed for chemical, biological, physical, and allergen parameters in spring and winter seasons in these nine CDCC located in Porto, Portugal. Outdoor measurements were also conducted for comparison. Our results indicated that (i) particulate matter (PM10) median levels were above the national reference levels, both by classroom type and by season; (ii) TVOC kindergarten peak values may raise some concern; (iii) CO2 was present at high median and maximum levels during spring and winter assessment in both nurseries and kindergartens classrooms; (iv) total bacteria concentrations were 57- and 52-fold higher in the nursery and kindergarten than outdoors, respectively, for the spring season; (v) winter and spring median predicted mean vote (PMV) indices were between "neutral" (0) and "slightly cool" (≤ -1) in the thermal sensation scale for comfort situations (-2 to 2) for both types of classrooms; (vi) there were significant differences for both PMV and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) indices by season; and (vii) CO2, total bacteria, and gram-negative bacteria were associated with low airflow rates. These data will help to evaluate the effectiveness of current building operation practices in child day care centers regarding indoor air quality and respiratory health.

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Poor ventilation at day care centres (DCCs) was already reported, although its effects on attending children are not clear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between wheezing in children and indoor CO 2 (a ventilation surrogate marker) in DCC and to identify behaviours and building characteristics potentially related to CO 2 . In phase I, 45 DCCs from Lisbon and Oporto (Portugal) were selected through a proportional stratified random sampling. In phase II, 3 months later, 19 DCCs were further reassessed after cluster analysis for the greatest difference comparison. In both phases, children's respiratory health was assessed by ISAAC-derived questionnaires. Indoor CO 2 concentrations and building Communicated by David NadalWhat is known-what is new: Poor ventilation at day care centres (DCC) was already reported. The results of the present study suggest that poor ventilation in DCC could be related to wheezing in children. Even though natural actions could not be sufficient to provide ventilation and reduce CO 2 to acceptable levels, the increment of natural ventilation through effective open window practices and adjusting the number of children in each classroom may be considered.P. Carreiro-Martins : I. Caires : J. Araújo-Martins :

a b s t r a c tVentilation represents a significant part of heat loss in winter, leading to the need to minimize airflow. However, it is absolutely necessary to ensure indoor air quality and the safety of the users and to control the risk of condensation. Ventilation is responsible on average for 30%e40% of energy consumption in air conditioning in Western European buildings. There is great variability in air change rates (ACH [h À1 ]) from country to country and the minimum value takes into account comfort, sensory and hygrothermal criteria. In Portugal improvements have been made in the air permeability of window frames, but despite the improvements also made in installing mechanical extraction ventilation devices in kitchens and toilets, these often do not guarantee the minimum number of air change rates required.Air permeability tests were recently carried out in five flats with identical construction characteristics, in the same building, with the aim of characterizing the air permeability of buildings and components, in Portugal. These data are particularly useful for improving the design of building components (e.g., windows and roller shutter boxes) and to perform simulations with reliable data.

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