Plasma Clean CEO Steve Keogh discusses the negative impact of increasing CO2 on our children in the classroom and the solutions available to protect them.
Nearly 3.4 million children are currently at risk of long-term health conditions and infectious diseases due to poorly ventilated schools in every corner of the UK.
Children spend a huge portion of their lives in school equating to around 7,800 hours across their educational life. By nature, humans generate CO2 when breathing out and when combined with multiple bodies in a room, such as a classroom, along with increased temperatures and humidity it can significantly reduce the air quality within the environment.
CO2 levels between 400 - 1,000 ppm in an occupied room are classed as average with good air exchange. Levels above 1,000 ppm have a negative impact on cognitive function and have been directly linked to serious health conditions, such as asthma as well as symptoms including anxiety, lack of concentration and lower productivity. Studies have also revealed that environments with clean indoor air helped people perform cognitively 61% better, illustrating the importance of air quality in all environments, especially classrooms.
There are 32,000 schools across the UK, with over 10 million pupils and a large majority of these educational facilities have poor ventilation, creating a harmful environment for our young people and future generations. On average, CO2 levels in schools can regularly exceed 2,500 ppm, causing children to lack focus and even feel drowsy during the school day.
There are regulations in place to ensure that school buildings currently being built or planned for the future adhere to strict guidelines around ventilation. However, existing schools built before the guidance are not expected to meet the same exacting standards and therefore leave many children exposed to harmful environments for long periods of time.
Many hold the view that simply opening a window can create a better ventilated environment for children, but this isn’t a practical long term solution. During the winter months in the UK, opening a window can cause discomfort to pupils and external pollution can also worsen the problem, especially in urban areas.
The solution lies in further investment and tighter guidelines for schools to ensure that these educational settings are fit for purpose. Investing in high quality CO2 sensors and air quality technology allows schools to continuously monitor indoor air quality and adapt the ventilation accordingly - tackling the issue head on.
Plasma Clean, a trusted pioneer in innovative and affordable infection prevention solutions, has been dedicated to improving air quality for the last 13 years. The UK based company has recently partnered with world leading air monitoring specialists, Air things to deliver life changing air quality technology to the education sector.
The collaborative approach delivers the highest grade nondispersive infrared sensors (NDIR) to monitor indoor air quality, which are recommended by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), which provides expert advice to the industry. These premium quality sensors monitor CO2 levels, temperature, humidity, radon, VOCs, pressure, light and virus risk - all in real time.
When indoor air quality is improved there are key benefits for staff and pupils including a 15% increase in performance and a 58% decrease in sick leave from staff.
When indoor air quality is compromised there is also a direct link to the spread of infectious diseases such as Covid-19. The air quality technology can help to future proof schools nationwide against an outbreak such as this, helping to limit the impact of the virus and support staff to plan accordingly during term time.
