quality in schools

Promoting healthy indoor air quality in schools: COVID-19 and beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught all of us that air quality matters, and that indoor spaces need clean air in order to be safer for the people inside them. As Canadian students are back in school and mask mandates are lifting, the air quality in classrooms and shared spaces throughout the school is once again top of mind. Every school administrator must make the key decision surrounding the right investment to help keep students, teachers, and staff safe considering not only COVID-19 but all types of harmful air pollution?

The importance of indoor air quality

Did you know that the benefits of IAQ extend far beyond COVID-19?

Clean air is essential to our health. Air pollutants can contribute to a range of short-term symptoms, such as eye, nose, and throat irritation and headaches, as well as long-term adverse health outcomes, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and respiratory issues. They can even play a role in premature mortality, as air pollution is considered one of the greatest killers of our generation. Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution’s adverse effects due to their developing bodies and behaviours.

Air quality isn’t just important for physical health. Growing evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution negatively affects children’s neurodevelopment. Research has also linked better air quality to higher productivity and better performance among students, such as improved concentration and test scores.

Some examples of threats to indoor air quality beyond COVID-19 include the infiltration of outdoor air pollution such as particulate matter, dampness and mold, and allergens.

How to improve indoor air quality

Air purifiers can help reduce the concentration of pollutants indoors by actively filtering indoor air. Many schools lack mechanical ventilation systems equipped with high-grade mechanical air filters so portable air purifiers can help to clean air in any area where students, teachers, and staff spend time, including not just the classroom but shared spaces such as hallways, cafeterias, or gyms.

Delos offers advanced air purification solutions that focus on capturing ultrafine particles and delivering cleaner air in the breathing zone. Delos Advanced Air purification standalone units, for example, have patented technology that utilizes electrostatic precipitation combined with mechanical filtration to capture and deactivate bacteria and viruses, as well as trap particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). Delos Advanced Air Purification standalone units are capable of capturing and removing ultrafine particles as small as 0.007 microns at 99.99 per cent aggregate efficiency.

In a recent study conducted at the Well Living Lab – founded as a Delos and Mayo Clinic collaboration – the aerosol particle concentration in a simulated, real-world classroom was five times lower with the use of three Delos Intellipure Compact portable air purifiers. To date, Delos has provided over 250,000 advanced air purification units to schools across North America.

Delos IAQ solutions for schools

Improving IAQ throughout the entire school community not only helps to protect students and staff from airborne diseases, such as Covid-19 and the flu, but can also improve student productivity and performance. By providing cleaner air in schools, school administrators have the opportunity to create learning environments where students and teachers alike can thrive, while also providing peace of mind to students, teachers, staff, and parents.

For more information on indoor environmental factors that affect student health, wellbeing, and performance, and steps that schools can take to address these factors, make sure to visit deloscanada.ca or for more information contact Alex.france@delos.com, telephone 437-219-2504. n