Assessment of ventilation and indoor air pollutants in nursery and elementary schools in France

Canha, Nuno; Mandin, Corinne; Ramalho, Olivier; Wyart, Guillaume; Ribéron, Jacques; Dassonville, Claire; Hänninen, Otto; Almeida, Susana Marta; Derbez, Mickael

doi:10.1111/ina.12222

Cited by 118 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…It is also important to stress the impact and contribution that carpeting and furniture may have on the indoor air quality due to different processes such as emission, adsorption, and desorption of pollutants from these materials [39,48]. This study focused on the worst ventilation conditions (e.g., windows and doors closed and hood switched off).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Biomass Home Heating, Cooking Styles, and Bread Toasting on the Indoor Air Quality at Portuguese Dwellings: A Case Study

et al. 2018

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This study evaluated the emissions of specific indoor sources usually present in Portuguese dwellings in order to understand their impact on the indoor air quality. With this aim, three typical activities were studied including home heating using two types of fireplaces (open and closed) and biofuels (pinewood and briquettes), cooking styles (frying and boiling) in different types of kitchen appliances, and several levels of bread toasting. The levels of specific pollutants were found to be above the established Portuguese limit values including VOCs, formaldehyde, and particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ). Although these emissions are transient and short in duration, the resulting concentrations are high and can severely impact the occupants' daily exposure. Besides promoting good ventilation, the choice of residential appliances with low emissions should be taken into account. In addition, it is important that occupants perform specific activities following the best practices so that their exposure to pollutants is minimized.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Biomass Home Heating, Cooking Styles, and Bread Toasting on the Indoor Air Quality at Portuguese Dwellings: A Case Study

et al. 2018

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“…The indoor bacterial level is specially associated with the occupancy of the classroom and insuffi cient ventilation. Therefore, increasing and improving the ventilation by means of mechanical or natural systems can play a key role in improving the indoor air quality (Canha et al 2015), since it can avoid the bacterial accumulation at the indoor environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of bioaerosols in urban and rural primary schools using passive and active sampling methodologies

Canha¹,

Almeida²,

Freitas³

et al. 2015

Archives of Environmental Protection

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Abstract:People spend most of their time in indoor environments and, consequently, these environments are more signifi cant for the contribution of the daily pollutant exposure than outdoors. In case of children, a great part of their time is spent at school. Therefore, evaluations of this microenvironment are important to assess their time-weighted exposure to air pollutants.The aim of this study was to assess the children exposure to bioaerosols at schools from two different types of areas, urban and rural. A methodology based upon passive sampling was applied to evaluate fungi, bacteria and pollens, simultaneously with active sampling for fungi and bacterial assessment. Results showed very good correlations between sampling methods, especially for summer season. Passive sampling methodologies presented advantages such as no need of specifi c and expensive equipment, and they allow achieving important qualitative information.The study was conducted in different periods of the year to study the seasonal variation of the bioaerosols. Fungi and pollen presented higher levels during the summer time whereas bacteria did not present a seasonal variation. Indoor to outdoor ratios were determined to assess the level of outdoor contamination upon the indoor environment. Levels of fungi were higher outdoor and bacteria presented higher concentrations indoors.Indoor levels of bioaerosols were assessed in primary schools of urban and rural areas, using the active method along with a passive sampling method. Very good correlations between methods were found which allow the use of the passive sampling method to supply important and reliable qualitative information of bioaerosols concentrations in indoor environments. Seasonal variation in bioaerosols concentrations were found for fungi and pollen. Concentrations of fungi and bacteria above AMV (Acceptable Maximum Value) were found for most of the studied classrooms showing the importance of this microenvironment for the high exposure of children to bioaerosols.

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“…Only a few applications of the build-up method in schools were identified [43,44]; these appear to have used the 3-point method (Equations (8) and (9)) to estimate C S . The build-up method may be used with relatively short occupied classroom periods and with low air change rates [32].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review and Extension of CO2-Based Methods to Determine Ventilation Rates with Application to School Classrooms

Batterman

2017

IJERPH

180

153

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The ventilation rate (VR) is a key parameter affecting indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and the energy consumption of buildings. This paper reviews the use of CO2 as a “natural” tracer gas for estimating VRs, focusing on applications in school classrooms. It provides details and guidance for the steady-state, build-up, decay and transient mass balance methods. An extension to the build-up method and an analysis of the post-exercise recovery period that can increase CO2 generation rates are presented. Measurements in four mechanically-ventilated school buildings demonstrate the methods and highlight issues affecting their applicability. VRs during the school day fell below recommended minimum levels, and VRs during evening and early morning were on the order of 0.1 h−1, reflecting shutdown of the ventilation systems. The transient mass balance method was the most flexible and advantageous method given the low air change rates and dynamic occupancy patterns observed in the classrooms. While the extension to the build-up method improved stability and consistency, the accuracy of this and the steady-state method may be limited. Decay-based methods did not reflect the VR during the school day due to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system shutdown. Since the number of occupants in classrooms changes over the day, the VR expressed on a per person basis (e.g., L·s−1·person−1) depends on the occupancy metric. If occupancy measurements can be obtained, then the transient mass balance method likely will provide the most consistent and accurate results among the CO2-based methods. Improved VR measurements can benefit many applications, including research examining the linkage between ventilation and health.

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Assessment of ventilation and indoor air pollutants in nursery and elementary schools in France

Cited by 118 publications

References 49 publications

Impact of Biomass Home Heating, Cooking Styles, and Bread Toasting on the Indoor Air Quality at Portuguese Dwellings: A Case Study

Impact of Biomass Home Heating, Cooking Styles, and Bread Toasting on the Indoor Air Quality at Portuguese Dwellings: A Case Study

Assessment of bioaerosols in urban and rural primary schools using passive and active sampling methodologies

Review and Extension of CO2-Based Methods to Determine Ventilation Rates with Application to School Classrooms

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