William H. Farquhar Middle School, Olney, MD. Photo credit: Patrick Ross
School Health Research Library
We have curated a library of peer-reviewed scientific studies from around the world published since 2016, focusing on the school built environment and occupant health and performance. This research builds on the 2017 Schools for Health: Foundations for Student Success report released by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that synthesizes foundational research about school indoor environmental quality impacts on students and staff.
To help translate this research into action in schools, we have compiled School Health Research Highlights to help school staff and leaders access key findings and actionable strategies on priority topics.
Displaying 141 - 150 of 355 | Export entire research library
The Adverse Associations of Classrooms’ Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Conditions on Students’ Illness Related Absenteeism between Heating and Non-Heating Seasons—A Pilot Study
Deng, Shihan
During non-heating season, a 3% increase of IRA was estimated with 1,000,000-counts/L increase of particles that had a diameter less than 2.5 μm (PN2.5); during the heating season, a 3% increase of IRA were expected with 100 ppm increase of room…
Keywords: Absence rate, Attendance, Seasonal variation, Midwest US
Comments to “Assessment of formaldehyde levels in relation to respiratory and allergic symptoms in children from Alba County schools, Romania” by Neamtiu et al. (2019)
Wolkoff, P
In summary, the authors present an unbalanced and
inconsistent interpretation of their data and with unsubstantiated focus on FA; the authors disregard a more
appropriate explanation for adverse respiratory effects in
the…
Keywords: Asthma, Formaldehyde, Indoor air quality, Respiratory symptoms, School children
Combined effects of ventilation rates and indoor temperatures on cognitive performance of female higher education students in a hot climate
Ahmed, R
Potential benefits were found on speed and accuracy of tasks of cognitive performance when indoor temperature was set between 20 and 23ºC and at CO2 levels of 600 ppm compared to higher temperatures and poorer ventilation rates and that both…
Keywords: Air-conditioned buildings, Cognitive performance, Educational buildings, Hot climates, Indoor air quality, Ventilation
Air pollution and lung function in children
Garcia, E
There is a large literature supporting the link between air
pollution exposure and adverse effects on children’ lung function
level and growth; however, many questions remain, some relating
to more nuanced understanding of air…
Keywords: Children, Lung function, Fev1, FVC, Air pollution, Wildfire, Gas stoves, Biomass
Children environmental exposure to particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and biomonitoring in school environments: A review on indoor and outdoor exposure levels, major sources and health impacts
Oliverira, M
Strong evidences demonstrated associations between environmental exposure to PM and PAHs with several health outcomes, including increased risk of asthma, pulmonary infections, skin diseases, and allergies. Nevertheless, there is a scientific gap…
Keywords: Biomarkers, Children exposure, Health effects, Particulate matter (PM), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS)
Ultrafine and Fine Particulate Matter Inside andOutside of Mechanically Ventilated Buildings
Miller, Shelly
The ratio of indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) PM was weakly but positively correlated with the amount of ventilation provided to the indoor environment, did not vary much with particle size (ranged between 0.48 and 0.63 for the entire size range), and was…
Keywords: Aerosols, Ultrafine particles, Particle number count, Infiltration, Nitrate
Impact of Environmental Factors on the Prevalence Changes of Allergic Diseases in Elementary School Students in Ulsan, Korea: A Longitudinal Study
Lee, Jiho
Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to investigate the impact of environmental factors on the change in the prevalence of allergic diseases. The survey revealed that an increased risk of allergic rhinitis was associated with exposure to…
Keywords: Allergic diseases, Prevalence, Environmental factors, Longitudinal
Investigation of bacterial and fungal communities in indoor and outdoor air of elementary school classrooms by 16S rRNA gene and ITS region sequencing
Lee, Bong Gu
The bacterial community was richer in outdoor air than classroom air, whereas fungal diversity was similar indoors and outdoors. Bacteria such as Enhydrobacter, Micrococcus, and Staphylococcus that are generally found in human skin, mucous membrane…
Keywords: Classroom air, Elementary school classrooms, Microbial communities, Next generation sequencing
Airborne fungal and bacterial microbiome in classrooms of elementary schools during the COVID-19 pandemic period: Effects of school disinfection and other environmental factors
Yang, Jun I. L.
lassrooms disinfected with spray ≤1 week before sampling had lower bacterial DNA concentration (3116 DNA copies/m3) than those >1 week (5003 copies/m3) (p-values = 0.06). The bacterial DNA copy number concentration increased with temperature and…
Keywords: Bioaerosol, Disinfection, NGS, Particulate matter (PM), QPCR
Data on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in kindergartens with different surrounding activities
Abdullah, Samsuri
The chemical parameters measured were respirable suspended particulates of PM10, PM2.5, PM1, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and the concentrations are within the acceptable limit. Physical parameters of wind speed are within the standard, while…
Keywords: Indoor air quality, Kindergartens, Temperature, Residential, Thermal comfort