Indoor and outdoor characterisation of organic and inorganic compounds in city centre and suburban elementary schools of Aveiro, Portugal
Highlights
► For most pollutants, concentrations indoors are higher than outdoors. ► About 74% of PM10 is generated indoors. ► Pupils' physical activity and classroom works contribute to high indoor PM10 levels.
Introduction
It has been shown that indoor air quality (IAQ) is usually worse than the outdoor air (Godoi et al., 2009; Jo and Seo, 2005; Kotzias et al., 2009; Lee and Chang, 2000; Pegas et al., 2010, Pegas et al., 2011a, Pegas et al., 2011b; Yang et al., 2009). People are exposed to a multitude of chemical and biological stressors, some of which cause health problems (allergy, asthma, sensory irritation, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, lung cancer, etc.) (Bernstein et al., 2008; Jie et al., 2011; Rios et al., 2009; Samet and Spengler, 2003). On the other hand, some indoor air pollutants, such as dust and water vapour, accumulate on equipments, increasing the chance of an electrical breakdown (Lohbeck, 2008). Results of many studies demonstrate a significant and causal correlation between improving the indoor environment and gains in productivity and health (Fisk, 2000; Fisk and Rosenfeld, 1997; Kats et al., 2003; Kumar and Fisk, 2002; Mendell and Heath, 2005; Mudarri and Fisk, 2007; Seppanen et al., 2007).
Children, as result of the immaturity of immunity system and of growing processes, are more fragile and susceptible to indoor pollution effects (Mendell and Heath, 2005). Children in scholar age spend an important fraction of their time indoors in schools. In Portugal school buildings are frequently old and degraded, potentiating negative health effects in their young occupants.
As result of predictable impact of school IAQ in children health several studies have been performed worldwide in this topic (Daisey et al., 2003; Mendell and Heath, 2005). The pollutants most commonly measured in elementary school studies are gaseous compounds, which comprise total or speciated volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide, as well as biological agents including airborne fungi and bacteria (e.g. Blondeau et al., 2004; Godoi et al., 2009; Jo and Seo, 2005; Lee and Chang, 2000; Meklin et al., 2002; Pegas et al., 2011a, Pegas et al., 2011b; Yang et al., 2009). Comparatively to these traditional pollutants, indoor concentrations of particles at schools have been sparsely investigated. In spite of the various studies performed worldwide to assess the pupils' exposure to indoor particles, only a few aimed at characterising their chemical composition, and this was mainly focused on the elemental content (e.g. Almeida et al., 2011; Molnár et al., 2007; Oeder et al., 2012; Stranger et al., 2008). Nevertheless, practically nothing is known about the organic speciation and the respective sources of particles in the indoor air of schools. Due to their carcinogenic potential, only polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the indoor air of residences, offices or commercial spaces have been characterised in a number of studies (Chalbot et al., 2006; Johannesson et al., 2009; Jung et al., 2010; Naumova et al., 2002, Naumova et al., 2003; Ohura et al., 2004).
In the present study, in addition to traditional measurements, a detailed chemical characterisation of particles occurring in both indoor and outdoor environments of elementary schools was performed. As far as we know, the abundances of several classes of organic compounds in airborne particles in schools were obtained for the first time. Such information is important as it appends to the emergent global-wide dataset of IAQ in educational buildings.
Section snippets
Study design
This study investigated, for the first time, pollutant concentrations inside and outside school buildings at different locations in Aveiro, Portugal. Comfort parameters (temperature, relative humidity, CO2 and CO), microorganisms, NO2, VOCs and PM10 concentrations in two elementary schools (city centre and suburban location) were measured between April and June 2010.
Aveiro is a coastal city with approximately 60,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the shores of a coastal lagoon. An industrial
Comfort parameters, gaseous pollutants and microorganisms
The indoor average temperatures during the occupation periods were very similar in both schools: 23 ± 0.6 °C (city centre school) and 23 ± 0.5 °C (suburban school). The average values obtained for the relative humidity were 57 ± 2% and 46 ± 3%, respectively, for the city centre and suburban schools. In addition to meteorological specificities during the sampling campaigns in each school, this small difference may be related to the better insulation of the more recent building that composes the
Conclusions
Comparison of week day and weekend data demonstrated that school activity and indoor sources increase loadings of many gas and particle pollutants. Almost all of the identified VOCs showed I/O ratios higher than one, and especially dichloromethane, suggesting the presence of important indoor sources in both schools. The daily profiles of CO2 suggest that the classrooms are inadequately ventilated, which likely favours accumulation of pollutants in indoor air. Vehicle emissions contributed to
Acknowledgements
This project was financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the PTDC/SAU-ESA/65597/2006 project. Priscilla N. Pegas thanks FCT for the Ph.D. scholarship (SFRH/BD/45233/2008). The authors would also like to thank the support of principals, staff and students.
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