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 61 - 70 of 284 | Export entire research library
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)
Survey and Measurements of Indoor Environmental Quality in Urban/Rural Schools Located in Romania
Catalina, Tiberiu
Optimal thermal comfort is not met during the cold season in any of the schools under investigation. The old rural schools were found to be the worst performing buildings compared to urban schools where due to recent investments in refurbishment…
Keywords: Indoor environmental quality, School buildings, Survey
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
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
Trace elements in outdoor and indoor PM2.5 in urban schools in Xi'an, Western China: characteristics, sources identification and health risk assessment
Wang, Runyu
The PM2.5-bounded elements in two middle schools
in Xi’an showing higher levels compared with the
previous researches worldwide. Indoor elements concentrations were strongly related to the outdoor air.
The students’ and teachers…
Keywords: Indoor/outdoor, Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), Heavy metals, middle school, Health risk assessment
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
A novel CO2-based demand-controlled ventilation strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the indoor environment
Li, Bingxu
This paper presents a novel CO2-based DCV strategy in the context of controlling COVID-19 transmission in indoor environments. Case studies of different indoor environments have been conducted on an experimental platform of a real ventilation duct…
Keywords: Demand-controlled ventilation, COVID-19, CO2 concentration, Event reproduction number, Ventilation control scheme
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
A primary school driven initiative to influence commuting style for dropping-off and picking-up of pupils
Kumar, Prashant
Based on the findings of this exercise, the following conclusions are drawn:
•
Fine particles were found to be the dominant size fraction in the school environment. The line source owing to cars' queuing affected all the SPs, where…
Keywords: Citizen science, Smart citizen kids, Community engagement, Air pollution exposure, Iscape project
The potential for indoor fans to change air conditioning use while maintaining human thermal comfort during hot weather: an analysis of energy demand and associated greenhouse gas emissions
Malik, Arunima
The thermal comfort threshold was increased by the use of fans compared with air conditioner use alone. We found that widespread indoor fan use had the potential to reduce energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions attributable to air conditioner…
Keywords: