Children's well-being at schools: Impact of climatic conditions and air pollution.
Human civilization is currently facing two particular challenges: population growth with a strong trend towards urbanization and climate change. The latter is now no longer seriously questioned. The primary concern is to limit anthropogenic climate change and to adapt our societies to its effects. Schools are a key part of the structure of our societies. If future generations are to take control of the manifold global problems, we have to offer our children the best possible infrastructure for their education: not only in terms of the didactic concepts, but also with regard to the climatic conditions in the school environment. Between the ages of 6 and 19, children spend up to 8h a day in classrooms. The conditions are, however, often inacceptable and regardless of the geographic situation, all the current studies report similar problems: classrooms being too small for the high number of school children, poor ventilation concepts, considerable outdoor air pollution and strong sources of indoor air pollution. There have been discussions about a beneficial and healthy air quality in classrooms for many years now and in recent years extensive studies have been carried out worldwide. The problems have been clearly outlined on a scientific level and there are prudent and feasible concepts to improve the situation. The growing number of publications also highlights the importance of this subject. High carbon dioxide concentrations in classrooms, which indicate poor ventilation conditions, and the increasing particle matter in urban outdoor air have, in particular, been identified as primary causes of poor indoor air quality in schools. Despite this, the conditions in most schools continue to be in need of improvement. There are many reasons for this. In some cases, the local administrative bodies do not have the budgets required to address such concerns, in other cases regulations and laws stand in contradiction to the demands for better indoor air quality, and sometimes the problems are simply ignored. This review summarizes the current results and knowledge gained from the scientific literature on air quality in classrooms. Possible scenarios for the future are discussed and guideline values proposed which can serve to help authorities, government organizations and commissions improve the situation on a global level.
Fraunhofer WKI, Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Braunschweig, Germany; International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: tunga.salthammer@wki.fraunhofer.de.
Tunga
T
Salthammer
Fraunhofer WKI, Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Braunschweig, Germany.
Erik
E
Uhde
Fraunhofer WKI, Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Braunschweig, Germany.
Tobias
T
Schripp
Fraunhofer WKI, Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Braunschweig, Germany.
Alexandra
A
Schieweck
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Lidia
L
Morawska
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Mandana
M
Mazaheri
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Sam
S
Clifford
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Congrong
C
He
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy.
Giorgio
G
Buonanno
Spanish Council for Scientific Research, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Spain.
Xavier
X
Querol
Spanish Council for Scientific Research, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Spain.
Mar
M
Viana
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (FEPS), University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH Surrey, UK; Environmental Flow (EnFlo) Research Centre, FEPS, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH Surrey, UK.
Prashant
P
Kumar
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D057231:Climate Change; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006796:Household Work; D006801:Humans; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D012574:Schools
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
Carbon dioxide; Exposure in classrooms; Guideline values; Indoor chemistry; Thermal comfort; Ventilation