Indoor air quality, ventilation and health symptoms in schools: An analysis of existing information Page: 3 of 22
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INTRODUCTION
As of 1996 there were 88 thousand kindergartens through 12th grade (K-12) public schools in the United States
providing daily housing for almost 46 million students and 2.7 million teachers as well as for extracurricular programs,
daycare centers, and community programs (USDE, 2000). There is evidence that many school districts in the United
States (GAO, 1995) and schools in other countries have significant and serious indoor environmental problems. From
the educational standpoint, the indoor air quality and ventilation in school buildings may affect the health of the children
and indirectly affect learning performance. Surprisingly, given the magnitude of the school population, information on
indoor air quality in schools is very limited. Although a number of individual studies of indoor air quality, ventilation,
and health symptoms in schools exist, a comprehensive examination of the existing research has not been compiled.
We reviewed the existing published literature on indoor air quality (IAQ), ventilation, and IAQ- and building-related
health problems in schools. The objectives of this review were to:
1. Identify the most commonly reported building-related health symptoms involving schools;
2. assemble, evaluate, and summarize existing measurement data on ventilation, carbon dioxide (CO2)
concentrations and key indoor air pollutants most likely to be related to these symptoms, (e.g., volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) and biological contaminants); and
3. summarize existing information on causal relationships between pollutant exposures and health symptoms in
schools.
METHODS
The scientific literature until 1999, published in journals and conference proceedings was searched through a
number of electronic databases including Airbase from the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Center, Applied Science and
Technology Index; Chemical Abstracts; Concentration of Indoor Pollutants (CIP) Database developed by Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory; Current Contents; Education Resource Information Center; General Science Index;
Inside Information; Inspec; Medline; and Toxline. A wide range of search terms related to buildings, ventilation, IAQ,
and health and attendance outcomes in schools were used to explore these databases. A number of document sets were
manually searched including: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
IAQ Conference Proceedings; ASHRAE Journal; ASHRAE Transactions; and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Radon Proceedings. The EPA's School Evaluation Program (SEP) data collected in the early 1990s from 12
schools in Florida, Kansas, New Mexico, and Washington with elevated indoor radon was also examined. In all, over
300 peer-reviewed articles were reviewed and those containing studies of schools including either quantitative
evaluations of ventilation or indoor concentrations of CO, VOCs, or biological contaminants, and/or evaluations of1
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Daisey, Joan M.; Angell, William J. & Apte, Michael G. Indoor air quality, ventilation and health symptoms in schools: An analysis of existing information, article, July 1, 2003; Berkeley, California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc778444/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.