School Environment, Indoor Air Quality, Student Performance and Health

Abstract

School environment is a key exposure for school age children. Understanding the link between school community, school building, and indoor environment characteristics and student performance and health provides insight as to means of improving student performance and health. A large school renovation program in the mid-Atlantic region provided an opportunity to study the relationship between indoor air quality and other school environmental factors and student performance, school climate, and health. Building inspection data and community-level data were linked to student administrative data from an urban school district in the mid-Atlantic region. Facility conditions and school neighbourhood characteristics were associated with student math and reading performance with chronic absences. In a subset of schools planned for renovation, school building factors and outdoor environmental characteristics were associated with indoor air quality. Indoor air pollutants, including PM2.5, NO2, CO2 , exceeded WHO or ASHRAE guideline recommendations for a portion of the time monitored. Twenty percent of the daily average PM2.5 and 25% of the hourly average NO2 concentrations exceeded corresponding WHO guidelines for indoor air. Seasonal variability was statistically significant for indoor NO2 and CO2 concentrations, with higher exposures in fall and winter, suggesting a role for improvements in ventilation. Temperatures were frequently (~2/3 of school day) outside of recommended ranges. These findings provide evidence that community and school environments are associated with academic achievement and attendance, suggesting that opportunities to improve school conditions may translate to improvement in school performance for students.