Indoor Air Quality: How to know if there is a problem in your school

There are two approaches to dealing with indoor air quality problems in schools. The first is when people feel the symptoms that appear as a result of poor indoor air quality, which leads to a crisis within the school or community. The other approach is to be proactive, and investigate the building regularly for the signs of potential problems.

Questions about the students, teachers and staff that you may want to ask:

Are a number of people in the school feeling sick, particularly at the end of the day or when using certain rooms?
Do the people get better when they are away from the building for the week-end, overnight or vacations?

Symptoms associated with poor indoor air quality are:

Tiredness or malaise
Headaches, or other flu-like symptoms
Rashes, itchy eyes, allergy-like symptoms
Respiratory problems
Any other health problems that get worse while in the building

Questions to ask about the building whether or not people are feeling sick:

Are there rooms that are too hot or too cold?
Are there lasting odors from labs, shops or bathrooms?
Are there rooms that have no ventilation ducts or sources of fresh air?
Are there visible signs of mold, filth or moisture on ceilings, walls or floors?
Are there possible outside sources of pollution such as a busy street, highway, idling vehicles or even a nearby factory?
Are there pesticides or cleaning chemicals being used indoors or outdoors on school property? Are they being used properly?
Are there safer pesticides, cleaning chemicals or other school supplies (in art classes, science labs, shops, etc.) that could be used in the school?
Is cleaning or maintenance of the building generally poor?
Are there water leaks in the roof, walls or plumbing?
Is there a preventive maintenance plan for the heating and ventilation system?
Are there renovations planned for the building?
Have rooms been divided up differently? Are there too many people in each?
Are rooms used for different purposes than they were designed?

Adapted from The Labor Page, March-April 1997, Massachusetts Healthy Schools Network