Health benefits to vulnerable populations by meeting particle-level guidelines inside schools with different ventilation conditions

ABSTRACT

We conducted simultaneous real-time measurements for particles on the premises of four schools, two of which were naturally ventilated (NV) and two mechanically ventilated (MV) in Kanpur, India. Health to school children from reduced particle levels inside classrooms simulated to the lowest acceptable levels (ISHRAE Class C: PM10 ≤ 100 µg/m³ & PM2.5 ≤ 25 µg/m³) using air filters were examined. Lung deposition of particles was used as a proxy for health impacts and calculated using the MPPD model. The particle levels in all classrooms were above the baseline, with NV classrooms having higher particle masses than MV classrooms: 72.16% for PM₁, 74.66% for PM_2.5, and 85.17% for PM₁₀. Our calculation reveals a whooping reduction in particles deposited in the lungs (1512% for PM₁₀ and 1485% for PM_2.5) in the case of the NV classrooms. Results highlight unhealthy air inside classrooms and suggest urgent interventions, such as simple filtration techniques, to achieve acceptable levels of particles inside schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Classrooms
• particles
• air filtration
• ventilation
• lung deposition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2024.2305223

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.