School Air Quality

How It Affects Our Children

A presentation by Lori Reid to the KVHS PSSC.

Symptoms that may be experienced by individuals adversely affected by poor air quality:

Questions commonly asked about air quality:

- Why do some individuals get sick or experience behavioral problems and others do not?

- Why do symptoms disappear when the individual is away from school?

- Why is there seldom a problem found with air quality when the air seems stagnant but the ventilation system appears to be working?

How air quality affects us all.

To understand air quality we must first understand a little about chemicals in our environment and how our bodies deal with them.

Where do we find chemicals?

- In our food.

- In Canada there are hundreds of chemicals used to color, flavor, thicken, sweeten, firm, polish, glaze, bleach, mature, emulsify, stabilize and preserve foods. About 500 of these are regulated. In addition, about 2000 chemicals used to produce artificial flavors are not regulated. It is estimated between 100 and 200 million pounds of additives (about six pounds per person) are used in Canada each year.

- The EPA allows 400 pesticide ingredients to be used in our foods.

- Chemicals are found in orange juice, cereal, milk, strawberries, bananas, prunes, asparatame, bacon, eggs, bread, butter and coffee, and that's just breakfast.

- In our environment.

- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a very large class of commercial chemicals that tend to evaporate into and contaminate indoor air of buildings.

- Prior to WWII the U.S. produced less than 1 billion pounds per year. By 1976 production soared to more than 163 billion pounds per year.

- About 70,000 chemicals are used in commerce.

- Several hundred are known to be neurotoxic.

- Less than 10% have had any testing at all for neurotoxicity. Only a handful have been evaluated thoroughly.

- It has been estimated that children may be up to 10 times more vulnerable to chemical toxins than adults because of their rapidly growing tissues and organs and the relative immaturity of their detoxification systems.

- Chemicals are found in personal care products such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirant, cologne, hair sprays and gels, lotions, body wash, etc.

- Chemicals are found in pressed wood furniture, permanent ink markers, crayons, correction fluid, plastics, disinfectants, paper products, floor polish, cigarette smoke, vinyl covered furniture, etc.

How do chemicals get into the human body?

- They are in the air and you breathe them.

- They are in many food and beverages and you eat and drink them.

- They are absorbed through the skin when you use personal care products containing chemicals and when your skin is in contact with any item that contains chemicals.

How does the body get rid of them?

- The body tries to convert them into a less poisonous form and excrete them through the kidneys.

- The body uses vitamins and enzymes in the detoxification process.

- If the body lacks the necessary vitamins and enzymes then the toxins can back up.

- The body will try to temporarily store them in lipid tissues of the body such as the brain.

What happens when the body gets overloaded?

- Individuals whose bodies were not previously overloaded will experience a variety of symptoms they never had before, usually neurological, depression, inability to cope, headaches, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, etc.

- Individuals whose bodies have been previously overloaded will experience intensified symptoms and perhaps a broader range of symptoms.

- Sensitivities to places or chemicals heighten.

- Multiple systems of the body affected.

- Risk of full-blown environmental illness, chronic fatigue, etc.

What determines how well our bodies can handle poor air quality?

- Genetics or hereditary factors

- Nutrient levels

- Total load to which your body is subjected

- Whether your body has experienced any previous detox damage

Unique problems in schools

- Rising energy costs encourage development of tighter buildings and a reduction in the amount of outdoor air brought into the schools for ventilation.

- A variety of contaminants - building materials, furnishings, cleaning agents, pesticides, printing and copying devices, combustion appliances, tobacco products, allergens, fungi, molds, bacteria, viruses, radon and lead - can reduce quality of indoor air.

- Students arrive in September with new backpacks, new sneakers, new lunch bags, new books, new clothes, etc.

- Many personal care products, laundry products and cosmetics all mixing in the air.

- Occupants are closer together, having approximately 4 times as many occupants as office buildings for the same amount of floor space.

- Standard levels of VOCs are set based on singular testing for healthy male adults.

- Children can be up to 10 times more vulnerable to chemical exposures than healthy adult males.

Problems in schools

- Ventilation system duct work is only cleaned every 5 years. Some schools do not have exhaust ducts; the air is exhausted above the ceiling tiles which are not sealed. This is not considered part of the ventilation system so it is not cleaned.

- Ventilation systems are routinely shut down in the summer allowing the warm humid air to promote colonization of molds, bacteria and fungi. Chemicals off-gassing in the building accumulate.

- Molds exist in schools and although they give off toxic chemicals molds are not routinely tested for.

- Ventilation is routinely shut down nights and weekends allowing VOCs to accumulate. Over time this can reduce overall air quality.

- In some older schools up to eighty percent (80%) of the air is recirculated.

- When the facilities test the air they test the CO2 levels. If the levels are within an acceptable range they assume there is no problem with the ventilation. This is not correct according to a Health Canada IAQ guide. It cautions using CO2 as an indicator of acceptable IAQ because there may be a high indoor source of contaminant irrespective of a low carbon dioxide level.

- Ventilation systems were never designed to take VOCs into account and CO2 levels originated from determining at what level you can detect the smell of body odor in the air.

- There are no Canadian or U.S. standards for total VOCs. The European Community has prepared a target guideline of 0.3mg/m3.

- Safe levels for VOCs or their synergistic affect are not known.

- Hypersensitive individuals can have severe reactions to a variety of VOCs at very low concentrations. These reactions can occur following exposure to a single sensitizing dose or sequence of doses, after which time a much lower dose can provoke symptoms. Chronic exposure to low doses can also cause reactions. Symptoms are usually non-specific and may be insufficient to permit identification of the offending compounds.

- To date the Department of Education does not test VOC levels.

References:

Who is Looking After Our Kids? By Harold E. Buttram, MD, Richard Piccola, MHA

Is This Your Child? By Dr. Doris Rapp, MD

Is This Your Child's World? By Dr. Doris Rapp, MD

Tired or Toxic? By Sherry Rogers, MD

Tools For Schools United States EPA

Health Canada - Indoor Air Quality in Office Buildings: A Technical Guide