Journal Article

Bangkok school indoor air quality: monitoring and intervention by positive pressure fresh air system

Panyametheekul, Sirima, Srinaka, Kessara, Yongprapat, Kamomchai, Morris, John, Khianthongkul, Kiraphat, Ongwandee, Maneerat

2024

Overview

A PM 2.5 crisis in Thailand has caused the Thai government and public to be increasingly concerned about children’s exposure to PM 2.5 during time in school. This study is a part of a project to create a modeled effective school indoor air quality management for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). We measured air quality and environment in 10 Bangkok school rooms, including CO 2 , CO, O 3 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , TVOC PID , formaldehyde, airborne bacteria and fungi, and gaseous organic contaminants. The indoor-to-outdoor concentration ratios indicated that either outdoor sources or indoor + outdoor sources were the predominant contributors to PM in naturally ventilated classrooms. Meanwhile, PM levels in air-conditioned classrooms strongly depended on class activities. CO 2 measurements showed that the air-conditioned classrooms had a low 0.4 per hour air change rate and total fungal counts also reached 800 CFU m −3 . Analysis of gaseous organic compounds showed that the two most abundant were aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, accounting for 60% by mass concentration. Interestingly, 2‐ethyl‐1‐hexanol, a mucous membrane irritant, was detected in all study rooms. In one naturally ventilated classroom, we implemented a positive pressure fresh air system to mitigate in-class PM levels; it kept PM levels below 20 μg m −3 throughout the class day. Students reported a 20–37% increase in satisfaction with the perceived indoor environmental quality and reported reduced rates in all symptoms of the sick building syndrome after implementing the positive pressure system.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: 1-Hexanol / air / Air conditioners / air conditioning / Air monitoring / Air Pollutants - analysis / Air Pollution, Indoor - analysis / Air quality / Air quality measurements / Airborne bacteria / Airborne microorganisms / Aquatic Pollution / Aromatic hydrocarbons / Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution / Bacteria / Carbon dioxide / Carbon Dioxide - analysis / Child / class / Classrooms / Contaminants / Earth and Environmental Science / Ecotoxicology / Environment / Environmental Chemistry / Environmental Health / Environmental Monitoring / Environmental quality / formaldehyde / fungi / Gases - analysis / Humans / Indoor air pollution / Indoor air quality / Indoor environmental quality / Indoor environments / mucosa / Organic compounds / Organic contaminants / Particulate matter / Particulate Matter - analysis / Quality management / Research Article / Schools / Sick building syndrome / Thailand / Waste Water Technology / Water Management / Water Pollution Control