Could your school be unhealthy?

Typical Problems       Causes       Solution Services

Don’t underestimate the need for healthy indoor environments.  We spend, on average, 90% of our time indoors.  Unfortunately, the design, use and maintenance of modern schools, and the materials we fill them with, can be hazardous to children’s health.

Typical indoor air quality problems found in schools:

MOLDS

• Mold grows where there is standing water or moist building products inside of buildings for more than two or three days.
• In a 1998 study by Texas Tech University of 48 schools in the U.S., 20 schools (or 42%) showed dramatically higher levels of penicillium compared to noncompliant schools and the outdoors.  More than half of the staff in the schools reported increased respiratory infections.  Occupational and Environmental Medicine, October 1988.
• Most older schools with ongoing water leaks that Healthy Buildings, Inc. has investigated have had mold problems.
• The typical causes are:
• Roof or wall leaks
• HVAC system design or maintenance problems
• Inadequate ventilation
• High relative humidity
• Inadequate building maintenance

DUST

Moderate to high levels of fine dust particles have been found in most of the newer schools EHSI/Healthy Buildings, Inc. has evaluated.

EHSI/Healthy Buildings, Inc. found the following in the air of these schools:

• Dander found in 98% of samples - 8,600 particles per cubic meter (p/m3) the median of 62 classrooms, with 26,000 (p/m3) in one school
• Charred wood fragments in 95% of samples (from wood burning)
• Paint spheres and chips in 94% of samples - 480 in every cubic meter of air, nine months after construction in one school
• Starch found in 77% of samples (from paper sizing, food & cosmetics)
• Tire fragments in 66% of samples (from busy roads) - 1000 particles per cubic meter in one school next to a freeway

Many of these particles are extremely small and can be breathed deep into the lungs of active children.

CHEMICALS

• Chemical vapors emitted by building materials, finishes, furnishings, cleaning materials and art supplies
• Pesticides tracked in from outside or applied inside the building
• Pollutants brought into the school from delivery trucks, dumpsters, or on people

Most Common Causes:

EHSI/Healthy Buildings, Inc. has inspected 18 schools in Washington state. We have found air quality problems from inadequacies in design, operation and maintenance of schools.

• Design or construction flaws that contribute to poor indoor air quality (IAQ) arise from heating, A/C and ventilating systems, and in constructing buildings that leak.
• Operation of buildings; improper settings of the HVAC system. A 1991 study by ASHRAE found 75% of the classrooms tested had carbon dioxide levels over the ASHRAE standard maximum level.
• Maintenance - inadequate cleaning of carpets, classrooms and HVAC systems.  Inadequate fresh air, dirty filters, or lack of filtration, and inadequate cleaning was found in many of the schools EHSI/Healthy Buildings, Inc. has investigated.

EHSI/Healthy Buildings, Inc.’s Goal

Our goal in all investigations is to understand the root cause of the problem before offering solutions.

WE DO NOT sell any equipment, filters etc.

WE DO NOT recommend equipment (magic boxes) that promise to solve all your air quality problems.

WE DO NOT believe that duct cleaning or treatment will, by itself, solve IAQ problems. 

WE DO work with you to identify the source of the problems.

WE DO consult with Ph.D. mycologists, chemists, toxicologists and M.D.s when needed to solve problems.

WE DO maintain resource lists of qualified professionals who can get the recommended work done.

WE DO get most of our clients from client referrals and from government and nonprofit environmental organizations such as the American Lung Association, the EPA and Health Departments.