By Heather Barker Vermeer Industry Reporter
Effective ventilation has never been more of a necessity in schools. It is widely known that crowded, poorly aired classrooms are a breeding ground for germs that can cause many common illnesses, but the so-easily transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 has added a new layer of seriousness to the ventilate debate. While air filtration alone cannot prevent COVID transmission, health and government officials around the world recommend increasing ventilation, with outdoor air and air filtration, as a vital part of any larger strategy. The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, for instance, lists improved ventilation as a potential additional control measure to reduce the risk of COVID transmission. Australian teachers have voiced concern around poor ventilation in schools as they reopen amid the ongoing pandemic of an airborne virus. Last term, for instance, concerned Brisbane teacher Tim Arnot told ABC that he decided to monitor CO2 in his classroom and recorded levels four-times higher than recommended. Levels of CO2 rise as people breathe, where spaces are poorly ventilated, and research has linked CO2 levels to educational outcomes. Prolonged exposure to poor air quality, wherein the CO2 levels exceed these levels can result in headaches, poor concentration, restlessness, nausea, and sleepiness. Moreover, “school aged children have greater susceptibility to some environmental pollutants than adults because they breathe higher volumes of air relative to their body weight, and their body tissue and organs are actively growing,” according to a recent Australasian research paper titled, ‘Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort’, which notes: “Children also spend more time in school than in any other environment except home. Indoor air quality is dependent on the concentrations of CO2 and other respiration derived pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate matter and other pollutants such as formaldehyde.”
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HEALTH & SAFETY
Term 1, 2022 | school-news.com.au
