title: Classroom conditions and CO2 concentrations and teacher health symptom reporting in 10 New York State Schools.
abstract: This study assessed the relationship between teacher-reported symptoms and classroom carbon dioxide (CO2 ) concentrations. Previous studies have suggested that poor indoor ventilation can result in higher levels of indoor pollutants, which may affect student and teacher health. Ten schools (9 elementary, 1 combined middle/high school) in eight New York State school districts were visited over a 4-month period in 2010. Carbon dioxide concentrations were measured in classrooms over 48-h, and teachers completed surveys assessing demographic information and self-reported symptoms experienced during the current school year. Data from 64 classrooms (ranging from 1 to 9 per school) were linked with 68 teacher surveys (for four classrooms, two surveys were returned). Overall, approximately 20% of the measured classroom CO2 concentrations were above 1000 parts per million (ppm), ranging from 352 to 1591 ppm. In multivariate analyses, the odds of reporting neuro-physiologic (i.e., headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating) symptoms among teachers significantly increased (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.02-1.64) for every 100 ppm increase in maximum classroom CO2 concentrations and were non-significantly increased in classrooms with above-median proportions of CO2 concentrations greater than 1000 ppm (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 0.72-7.12).
authors.affiliation: New York State Department of Health Empire State Plaza, Center for Environmental Health, Albany, NY, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muscatiello
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kielb
authors.forename: W-H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S-A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching; D014691:Ventilation
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: Carbon dioxide; Health; Indoor environmental quality; School; Symptoms; Teacher