AI Article Synopsis
- Monitoring indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools is essential as children spend significant time indoors, with traffic being a major contributor to air pollution, particularly in urban areas like south Madrid.
- The study conducted measurements from November to December 2017, examining the relationship between indoor and outdoor pollutant levels, showing strong correlations and noting that indoor pollution is influenced by outdoor sources, especially regarding particulate matter and black carbon.
- Findings revealed that indoor contaminant levels can rise during school occupancy due to activities and can fluctuate based on meteorological conditions, with specific trends noted regarding the delay in pollution levels between indoor and outdoor environments.
Article Abstract
Monitoring indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools is critical because children spend most of their daytime inside. One of the main air pollutant sources in urban areas is road traffic, which greatly influences air quality. Thus, this study addresses, in depth, the linkages of meteorology, ambient air pollution, and indoor activities with IAQ in a traffic-influenced school situated south of Madrid. The measurement period was from 22 November to 21 December 2017. Simultaneous measurements of indoor and outdoor PM, PM, and PM mass concentrations, ultrafine particle number concentration (PNC) and equivalent black carbon (eBC) were analyzed under different meteorological conditions. PNC and eBC outdoor concentrations and their temporal trend were similar among the sampling points, with all sites being influenced in the same way by traffic emissions. Strong correlations were found between indoor and outdoor concentrations, indicating that indoor pollution levels were significantly affected by outdoor sources. Especially, PNC and eBC had the same indoor/outdoor (I/O) trend, but indoor concentrations were lower. The time delay in indoor vs. outdoor concentrations varied between 0.5 and 2 h, depending on wind speed. Significant differences were found between different meteorological conditions (ANOVA -values < 2.14 × 10). Atmospheric stability periods led to an increase in indoor and outdoor pollutant levels. However, the highest I/O ratios were found during atmospheric instability, especially for eBC (an average of 1.2). This might be related to rapid changes in the outdoor air concentrations induced by meteorology. Significant variations were observed in indoor PM concentrations during classroom occupancy (up to 230 µg m) vs. non-occupancy (up to 19 µg m) days, finding levels higher than outdoor ones. This was attributed to the scholarly activities in the classroom. Conversely, PNC and eBC concentrations only increased when the windows of the classroom were open. These findings have helped to establish practical recommendations and measures for improving the IAQ in this school and those of similar characteristics.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11506914 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21101263 | DOI Listing |
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