Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems
Reported indoor air quality (IAQ) complaints are common even in relatively new or renovated school buildings in Finland. However, detecting the causes for complaints with commonly used indoor air measurements is difficult. This study presents data on perceived and measured IAQ in six comprehensive s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338838 |
| _version_ | 1828309641131458560 |
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| author | Camilla Vornanen-Winqvist Kati Järvi Maria A. Andersson Caroline Duchaine Valérie Létourneau Orsolya Kedves László Kredics Raimo Mikkola Jarek Kurnitski Heidi Salonen |
| author_facet | Camilla Vornanen-Winqvist Kati Järvi Maria A. Andersson Caroline Duchaine Valérie Létourneau Orsolya Kedves László Kredics Raimo Mikkola Jarek Kurnitski Heidi Salonen |
| author_sort | Camilla Vornanen-Winqvist |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reported indoor air quality (IAQ) complaints are common even in relatively new or renovated school buildings in Finland. However, detecting the causes for complaints with commonly used indoor air measurements is difficult. This study presents data on perceived and measured IAQ in six comprehensive school buildings in Finland. The aim of this study was to discover the possible differences of perceived and measured IAQ between schools with reported IAQ complaints and schools without reported IAQ complaints. The initial categorisation of schools with (‘problematic schools’) and without (‘comparison schools’) complaints was ensured via a validated indoor climate survey and a recently developed online questionnaire, which were completed by 186 teachers and 1268 students from the six schools. IAQ measurements of physical parameters, gaseous pollutants, particulate matter and bioaerosols were conducted in four problematic school buildings (26 classrooms) and two comparison school buildings (12 classrooms). Using air sampling as well as exhaust air filters and classroom settled dust to detect the presence of elevated concentrations of airborne cultivable microbes and pathogenic, toxigenic and mycoparasitic Trichoderma strains were the most indicative methods in distinguishing problematic schools from comparison schools. Other IAQ-related measurements did not detect clear differences between problematic and comparison schools, as the concentration levels were very low. The results indicate that the complaints reported by occupants could have been related to excess moisture or mould problems that had not been found or repaired. Ventilation pressure condition investigations and simultaneous exhaust and supply air filter dust culture should be addressed precisely in future studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:32:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-054c1c08a0684bbe846054cb46e02b68 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:32:46Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj.art-054c1c08a0684bbe846054cb46e02b682022-12-22T02:41:21ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202020-08-01141105781Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problemsCamilla Vornanen-Winqvist0Kati Järvi1Maria A. Andersson2Caroline Duchaine3Valérie Létourneau4Orsolya Kedves5László Kredics6Raimo Mikkola7Jarek Kurnitski8Heidi Salonen9Aalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, PO Box 12100, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland; Corresponding author.Aalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, PO Box 12100, FI-00076 Aalto, FinlandAalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, PO Box 12100, FI-00076 Aalto, FinlandUniversité Laval, Département de Biochimie, de Microbiologie et de Bio-informatique, 2325, rue de l'Université, Québec G1V 0A6, Canada; Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, 2725, chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec G1V 4G5, CanadaCentre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, 2725, chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec G1V 4G5, CanadaUniversity of Szeged, Faculty of Science and Informatics, Department of Microbiology, Közép fasor 52, H-6726 Szeged, HungaryUniversity of Szeged, Faculty of Science and Informatics, Department of Microbiology, Közép fasor 52, H-6726 Szeged, HungaryAalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, PO Box 12100, FI-00076 Aalto, FinlandAalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, PO Box 12100, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland; Tallinn University of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, EstoniaAalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, PO Box 12100, FI-00076 Aalto, FinlandReported indoor air quality (IAQ) complaints are common even in relatively new or renovated school buildings in Finland. However, detecting the causes for complaints with commonly used indoor air measurements is difficult. This study presents data on perceived and measured IAQ in six comprehensive school buildings in Finland. The aim of this study was to discover the possible differences of perceived and measured IAQ between schools with reported IAQ complaints and schools without reported IAQ complaints. The initial categorisation of schools with (‘problematic schools’) and without (‘comparison schools’) complaints was ensured via a validated indoor climate survey and a recently developed online questionnaire, which were completed by 186 teachers and 1268 students from the six schools. IAQ measurements of physical parameters, gaseous pollutants, particulate matter and bioaerosols were conducted in four problematic school buildings (26 classrooms) and two comparison school buildings (12 classrooms). Using air sampling as well as exhaust air filters and classroom settled dust to detect the presence of elevated concentrations of airborne cultivable microbes and pathogenic, toxigenic and mycoparasitic Trichoderma strains were the most indicative methods in distinguishing problematic schools from comparison schools. Other IAQ-related measurements did not detect clear differences between problematic and comparison schools, as the concentration levels were very low. The results indicate that the complaints reported by occupants could have been related to excess moisture or mould problems that had not been found or repaired. Ventilation pressure condition investigations and simultaneous exhaust and supply air filter dust culture should be addressed precisely in future studies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338838Indoor air qualitySchoolTrichodermaMicrobesOnline questionnaire |
| spellingShingle | Camilla Vornanen-Winqvist Kati Järvi Maria A. Andersson Caroline Duchaine Valérie Létourneau Orsolya Kedves László Kredics Raimo Mikkola Jarek Kurnitski Heidi Salonen Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems Environment International Indoor air quality School Trichoderma Microbes Online questionnaire |
| title | Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems |
| title_full | Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems |
| title_fullStr | Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems |
| title_short | Exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems |
| title_sort | exposure to indoor air contaminants in school buildings with and without reported indoor air quality problems |
| topic | Indoor air quality School Trichoderma Microbes Online questionnaire |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338838 |
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