Each year, children spend about 1000 hours in their classrooms. That is approximately six-seven hours a day. With the increasing evidence for a correlation between Coronavirus and Air Pollution, it is important to ensure that children are exposed to good air quality as they start getting back to school.
Firstly, it is important to know the sources of Indoor Air Pollution. The majority of the Air Pollutants are from the outdoor environment, such as particulate matter (PM 2.5) and nitrogen oxide (NOX) which are basically vehicular emissions that can enter the building through windows and doors.
Although, many harmful air pollutants are Indoor Air Pollutants. Volatile Organic Compounds also called VOCs, which are generated from office equipment and teaching products, cleaning products, paints, disinfectants, and building materials.
WHO states that Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children worldwide. More than 339 million people are living with asthma and the main cause of this disease is Indoor Air Pollution. From the statistics, it is clear that children are more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, calling our attention to the urgent need of clean Indoor Air.
Talking of Indoor Air Pollutants, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a significant contributor to Indoor Air Pollution as it is produced by the children themselves. A classroom with over 60 children, all generating enough CO2 in a poorly ventilated classroom can easily reach hazardous levels of Indoor Air Pollution. Controlling the levels of CO2 in a classroom setting is a priority, as it can significantly affect the performance of the students in terms of focus and behavior.
In order to ensure the best health for children, Clean Air is an important factor that cannot be neglected.
There many effective ways to improve Indoor Air Quality such as ensuring adequate ventilation in the room, restricting the number of times the windows and doors of the room are opened, or using an Air Purifier to clean the air.
Ventilation and Clean Air are important now more than ever before, as it can prevent Coronavirus from spreading. Taking simple steps to ensure CO2 levels do not cross dangerous levels is also necessary for the good health of children.
