Do you know anyone with asthma or allergies? You most likely do. Here in Texas one in four children, on average, suffers from asthma. As we discuss Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) there are some easy solutions to begin your school’s journey to provide a healthy environment. To alleviate anxiety while we journey through the world of healthy schools, here are some easy solutions.
First step: get rid of air fresheners. Think of it this way. One of the things you’re going to start doing is paying attention to smells in your school. People who have asthma and allergies can have serious problems, and even be hospitalized, by things that are in our environment for no other reason than to “smell good”. On a microscopic level anything that smells is emitting molecules of that particular smell. As the air freshener disappears, those molecules are floating in the air, waiting to inflame the lungs of innocent passers-by. You want the air in your school to be neutral. If you’re masking another smell then you’re going to need to treat the source of the smell. In IEQ lingo, that’s called “source control”.
Second step: More source control: Keep it clean. The three most common sources of indoor air contamination are dust mites, cat dander, and cockroach droppings. Dust mites and cockroach droppings are typically generated on-site, while cat dander is coming to school on clothing and personal belongings like backpacks. Doctors who specialize in allergies and organizations like the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America www.aafa.org and the American Asthma Foundation www.americanasthmafoundation.org have information to help you develop an asthma action plan. In the meantime you’ll want to clean often and clean deep. This means you want to keep your school clutter-free so your facilities and maintenance staff can do their jobs. You’ll then want to clean soft surfaces, (at some point reducing soft surfaces) cleaning window coverings, cleaning horizontal surfaces (including mini-blinds), and steam-cleaning carpets, if you have them. (Eventually you’ll want to take a serious look at removing carpet.)
If you need to keep soft surfaces in parts of your building, there are steps you can take to help. For example, in kindergarten classes there tend to be stuffed animals, curtains, soft chairs, and carpeting. Wash the stuffed animals often, wash curtains often, and steam clean carpets and fabric furniture.
Third step: more source control: look in places like art studios, shop classes, science classes and science prep areas, janitor closets, and kitchens. Many teachers like to keep cleaning products in their classrooms. Reduce the number and quantity of chemicals in your school. Research a green cleaning protocol.
Your school district may want to begin a comprehensive IEQ program. If so, start by gaining consensus from parents, teachers, students, and administration.
It is amazing how many teachers use plug-in air fresheners in a school building. As an administrator walking around from class to class on a daily basis I began to realize this fact. I was plagued with headaches that reminded me of the reasons why I avoid entering shopping malls through Foleys or other department stores that sell a plethora of perfumes. I don't think the teachers realize, as they sit in the same room for most of the day, the effects that a variety of smells can have on little noses.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Bringing awareness to the topic is helpful.
Hi Kerry, Thank you for your observations! You are so right. Most hospitals and healthcare facilities have banned the use of air fresheners and perfumes because of this issue. I changed my gym membership from a local gym that had so many air fresheners in the locker rooms that I literally couldn't breathe - and I don't have asthma. In most cases, the correct remedy is to increase the outside air supply and exhaust the stale air from the locker room. HVAC (heating, ventilatiion/air conditioning) equipment can and should be retrofitted to pre-heat/pre-cool air that's coming in from outside with the use of a heat exchanger. Duct size and fan size can be increased as well, and that's usually not too difficult or expensive.
ReplyDeleteI am actually guilty of some of this. Teaching middle school when the students come up from gym the smells that I get are bad I have used air freshener to eliminate the odor but have since stopped since I was told we are not allowed to use that in the classrooms. I now open windows when I find that there might be an odor in the class. I do agree I myself try to not enter places with an over whelming smell since it tends to bother me at times so I should do the same for my students.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI teach in a New York City school and only began to use an air freshener last year. Everyone who walked into my room would comment on how wonderful the classroom smelt. I never thought about the affects this air freshener may be having on my students with asthma. Most of my students have asthma and other health conditions. At the start of this year, I did not purchase a new air freshener. However, it was on my list of things to do! I will have re-think that purchase now. What are some suggestions to monitor the odor in the small classroom without disrupting the students ability to breath and concentrate? I have a small classroom with two windows that I am not able to open. I keep the door open most of the day to allow air from the hallway to circulate through my room.
As for cleaning, I like to clean the surfaces of my students desk on a daily basis. I usually use odor free baby wipes to clean the desks. Sometimes I clean with just a wet paper towel. The rug in my classroom is mandatory and luckily it is vacuumed by the custodian each day. The floors are also swept daily.
This is a valuable post, thanks for any additional insight!
Taking out air fresheners would be a great start. Teachers will use the fresheners to cover up the smell ot sweaty kids. The students will go outside to play and come back in smelling like a locker room. I know the teachers never thought it would effect a students health.
ReplyDeleteCGibbs(TSU)
I didn't even consider the fact that lack of smell is a good thing! Using a plug in to mask the smell of sweaty kids has always been my way to keep our room from smelling. Last year I did have a lot of students who had snotty noses all year round. Poor guys. I am sure I am not the only reason they had the allergies, but I sure didn't help any. I like the idea of also reducing the amount of chemicals that we are using daily to clean with. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI have really bad allergies so I know how students may feel when they walk into a classroom and have a wall of perfumes or air freshener waiting there to greet you. I wasn't ever big on putting air freshener in the classroom but I did have a habit of using Lysol after the kids came back from the gym and that always left a strong smell behind. This is a great post to remind you that it can actually makes things worse because you are just masking the smell and bothering those who have allergies. However, I think I most agree with the point you made about keeping things clean. So many teachers are pack rats and have so much stuff piled up in their rooms that it collects tons of dust. If it was kept clean the air quality would definitely improve. SEllason (TSU)
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing that such small things in the air that we don't see on a day-to-day basis can cause such severe health and respiratory problems in our students today. I have allergies and cat dander is especially one that hits me hard when I'm around cats and when that dander is brought to school by unsuspecting students. This is something to definitely think about.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I read this article. I will now forego my trip to Walgreen's to buy a plug-in air freshener. I did not realize the effects it had on students with asthma. I keep blankets and big stuffed animals in my 7th grade class, and the kids love to take them to their desk. It creates a comfy, family feeling. While I do launder them, I realize after this I need to clean them more often than I do. Thanks for raising awareness on this issue. (C. Scott--TSU)
ReplyDeleteTeachers have been "de-stinking" their rooms for years with a plethora of scented doo-dads. Now that candles and scentsies are not allowed...they have moved to the plug-in type of fresheners. I have at least two teachers with severe asthma who have had to go to the doctor after a student sprayed perfume in the back of the class upon returning from p.e. We have since insisted that all of the "froo froo" smelling stuff be elminated. It created withdrawl in some of our teachers, but we have offered each room various low odor cleaning products to remedy any source issues. This article has given me the idea that I might want to check into that as well. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMistie Dakroub (TSU)
Intersting about the stuffed animals my co- worker has them everywhere in her room, and the kids cough all the time and so does she. Elewis (TSU)
ReplyDeleteYou’ve given me much to think about in this post. I’ve entered many “stuffy” as well as “air freshened” classrooms. Although the school building is cleaned quite thoroughly daily, my carpeted office is most definitely not up to par. I doubt that it has ever been cleaned with more than a vacuum and it is that “perfect” brown that everything blends into. Thank you for making me seriously consider removing this carpet.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, thanks for the great comments! As a volunteer I speak on Indoor Air Quality and I know the Facilities/Maintenance people pull their hair out with these kinds of issues. I really appreciate hearing about all of this. I would recommend going to top administration (school board) and asking them if the district can have a comprehensive Indoor Environmental Quality policy. The reason you have to start at the top is that it doesn't have sticking power otherwise, but this is the way you get rid of the sweaty smells: get more air circulating via the ductwork through the classrooms. I'll address in future blogs but I believe ACEF now has my softchalk talk on Green in a Box posted - it's a program I've developed as a volunteer with the US Green Building Council as I've tried to figure out "What do schools really need that would most help them?". Take a look at it and feel to comment on future blogs, even if it's not about that particular blog's subject. Also you can develop a "green" club at your school, involve students, teachers, parents, maintenance, administration, school nurses, and have your goal to be to do IEQ initiatives. Again, Green in a Box will help you!
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