Air quality in school and kindergarten – Why is it necessary to deal with it and how does it affect children and adolescents?
School classrooms are in terms of air quality extremely congested areas, as there are 20-30 students and a teacher all in a relatively small quadrature. As a result, there is a lot of breathed air in the classroom and air quality minute by minute decreases.
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Classrooms and playrooms are extremely “crowded” spaces – Is air quality of this areas questionable?
The first problem is that over time, a person gets used to bad and stuffy air – this means that after a while the stale air, unpleasant smell and bad air quality are no longer detected.
Remember how many times you stepped into the room and the air smelled unpleasant – the smell of sweat, exhaled air. In the beginning, you feel the need for freshness, but at the same time you get used to it in less than a minute and you no longer smell the stench.
The adaptation of the senses occurs almost immediately, while bad air is reflected in headaches, disturbances in concentration, and malaise. This is reflected unconsciously and often has a critical effect not only on the well-being but also on the health of the child, pupil or student.
source: www.nijz.si
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What about classroom ventilation?
Another problem is that classrooms are often poorly ventilated – old schools do not have adequate ventilation devices that could supply a sufficient amount of fresh air into the room. This is why opening the windows is necessary – but that is often forgotten due to the problem of adapting the senses.
The consequence of this is that the students can meet with mild headaches and problems with concentration – but when they notice that it is often too late as the brain has received too little oxygen, and opening windows and breathing fresh air will not immediately solve the problem and eliminate the headache.
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COVID-19 – room ventilation and air quality
During COVID-19, air quality and ventilation gained even more importance, as proper ventilation is extremely important for maintaining human health.
Some recommendations on ventilation were also written by the company Menerga, which also advises on how to set up ventilation systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Principals and teachers care about children’s health!
Principals and teachers are committed to indoor air quality and want to control it.
It is possible to:
- Control the quality of ventilation devices and whether they supply a sufficient amount of air to each classroom in accordance with regulations,
- open the window in case that the air quality is better outside than indoors,
- Insist with closed windows in case that the air quality outside is significantly worse than indoors,
- Measure the air quality values to see if the filters of the ventilation device are clogged and need to be replaced.
- By using the measurement values of the air quality to see whether the ventilating system is strong enough or needs to be replaced with a more powerful one that can bring more air into the room.
At Andivi we have prepared a technical solution that makes that possible.
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The solution that results in better air quality
- green – from 0 to 800 ppm – air quality is good,
- orange – from 800 to 16000 ppm – air quality is at the limit,
- red – from 1600 to 2000 ppm – air quality is critical,
these values can be seen immediately at the traffic light on the sensor placed in the classroom, and at the same time, we provide visualization of all data via a mini central control system on the website, which shows the real-time values in all classrooms. In addition, control system can also provide historical monitoring of these data.
Control system can also send SMS or email that results in:
- natural ventilation by opening windows => automatic SMS can be sent to the teacher in the classroom that the windows need to be open,
- increase the airflow on the ventilation device => an automatic SMS can be sent to the maintenance worker of the building to increase the supply of fresh air to the classrooms.
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Standard technical solution
The technical solution is simple, as we have standardized it to such an extent that it can be quickly and easily installed in any school or kindergarten in an extremely short time.
Technical components of the solution:
- Indoor air quality sensor ANDRALQA with LED light traffic light, which indicates air quality in three colors on the sensor housing,
- U-MIO input-output units that allow all sensors to be connected to one U-DDC controller,
- U-DDC controller that collects data from all sensors and allows their visualization via…
- WebServer – a visualization of data via a web interface, on a web browser. This visualization is simple for any user.
In addition, basic programming of the solution, start-up of the solution, and OQ (operational quality) test and IQ (installation quality) test are also provided. All you need is basic cabling, which can be done by any local electrician.
Andivi provides a 3-year warranty for all sensors, which is a confirmation that the solution is safe and reliable. Also, all components are made in the EU and their measurement is accurate and reliable.
At Andivi, all the technical components for this solution are always in stock – which makes it possible to quickly implement the solution in practice.
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NIJZ: The importance of indoor air quality in primary schools
The NIJZ (National Institute of Public Health) has also published a manual that describes the air quality in primary schools. The NIJZ emphasizes that the quality of indoor air in schools is even more important, as:
- Children spend 80-90% of their time indoors (eg classrooms, at home).
- Indoor air often contains pollutants in higher concentrations compared to outdoor air.
- A large number of exposed (students, employees).
- Focus on children’s health and healthy environment issues in line with WHO guidelines.
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Index for Air Quality (IAQ)
The German Environmental Agency has specified the Air Quality Index (IAQ). Values over 25 mg/m3 of the total VOC content lead to headaches and other neurotoxic effects on human health.
| IAQ Index | Air quality | Impact (long-term exposure) | Suggested steps |
| 0 – 50 | Excellent | Pure air, best for well-being | No measures needed |
| 51 – 100 | Good | No irritation or impact on well-being | No measures needed |
| 101 – 150 | Lightly polluted | Reduction of well-being possible | Ventilation suggested |
| 151 – 200 | Moderately polluted | More significant irritation possible | Increase ventilation with clean air |
| 201 – 2509 | Heavily polluted | Exposition might lead to effects like headache depending on the type of VOCs | Optimize ventilation |
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251 – 350 |
Severely polluted | More severe health issue possible if harmful VOC present | Contamination should be identified if the level is reached even w/o presence of people; maximize ventilation & reduce attendance |
| > 351 | Extremely polluted | Headaches, additional neurotic effects possible | Contamination needs to be identified; avoid presence in room and maximize ventilation |
9 According to the guidelines issued by the German Federal Environmental Agency, exceeding 25 mg/m3 of total VOC leads to headaches and further neurotoxic impact on health.
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