Empowering London Primary School Communities to Know and Tackle Air Pollution Exposure
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Participatory Methods in Air Pollution Science
2.2. The Impact of Outdoor Air Pollution on Indoor Air Quality in Schools
3. Data and Methods: Planting Healthy Air in Schools Project
3.1. Study Population
3.2. Study Design
3.3. Site Description: Site Location, Air Quality, and Vulnerability
3.4. Sensor Quality Assurance
3.5. Assessing Children’s Understanding and the Impact of Our Approach
3.5.1. Education Materials/Training
3.5.2. Questionnaire and Survey
3.5.3. Focus Groups
3.6. Exposure Data Assessment
3.6.1. Air Quality Monitoring
3.6.2. Population Flow
3.6.3. Air Quality Exposure Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Participatory Air-Monitoring Project
4.1.1. St. Paul’s Primary School (SPP)
4.1.2. Sunny Hill Primary School (SPS)
4.2. Impacts of Participation in Air-Monitoring Project at School
4.2.1. Children’s Perception of Local Air Quality, Sources, and Impacts
Pre-Survey Results
4.2.2. Changes to Knowledge and Practices
Post Survey and Discussions
5. Discussion and Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Country | Authors | Context | Impact on Health |
---|---|---|---|
Portugal | [78] | Administered questionnaires to 1019 students at 51 elementary schools to assess the association between indoor air quality with the prevalence of allergic and respiratory diseases in children. | Wheezing, sneezing, rales, rhinitis, asthma, irritation of mucous membranes, cough, headache, and poor concentration were the associated health symptoms identified. |
Greece | [79] | An experimental investigation in nine primary schools in Greece for 32 days was carried out. | They predominantly observed health symptoms affecting the students in the schools were fatigue, allergies, and nose irritation; this significantly correlated to the levels of indoor particulate matter and CO2 concentrations. |
Spain | [80] | Evaluated the exposure to different airborne particle metrics in 39 primary schools. | Risk to lung cancer slightly higher due to toxic compounds on particles generated from anthropogenic emissions. |
Sweden | [81] | Questionnaire data on allergies, asthma, and asthmatic symptoms were obtained for 1476 primary- and secondary-school pupils in 39 randomly selected schools, from approximately 100 classrooms with and without new ventilation systems. | Students attending schools with new ventilation systems reported fewer asthma symptoms. |
Finland | [82] | A survey of indoor environmental quality was administered to 4284 sixth-graders from 297 schools. | Lower ventilation rates, increased moisture, and dampness were each independently linked to a higher incidence of respiratory symptoms. Inadequate ventilation was also associated with more frequent school absences. |
Population Index | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Very Low | Low | Moderate | High | Very High |
Pedestrians per hour | 0–180 | 181–360 | 361–540 | 541–720 | 721 or more |
Vehicles per hour | 0–417 | 418–834 | 835–1251 | 1252–1668 | 1669 or more |
Percentile | 1–20% | 20–40% | 40–60% | 60–80% | 80–100% or more |
Index | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Low | Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | High | High | High | Very High |
PM2.5 (µg/m3) | 0–11 | 12–23 | 24–35 | 36–41 | 42–47 | 48–53 | 54–58 | 59–64 | 65–70 | 71 or more |
Air Quality Index (API) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Very Low | Low | Moderate | High | Very High |
PM2.5 (µg/m3) | 0–11 | 12–35 | 36–53 | 54–70 | 71 or more |
Air Pollution Exposure Index and Risk | Description | |
---|---|---|
1–5 | Very low exposure | Combination of either: Low pollution and very low population; very low pollution and very low population; low pollution and low population; very low pollution and low population; very high pollution and very low population; very low pollution and high pollution; moderate pollution and very low population; very low pollution and moderate population. |
6–10 | Low exposure | Combination of either: low pollution and moderate population; moderate pollution and low population; high pollution and low population; low pollution and high population; very high pollution and low population; low pollution and very high population; moderate pollution and moderate population. |
11–15 | Moderate | Combination of either: moderate pollution and high population; high pollution and moderate population; moderate pollution and very high population; very high pollution and moderate population. |
16–20 | High exposure risk | Combination of either: high pollution and high population; high pollution and very high population. |
21–25 | Very high exposure risk | Combination of very high pollution and very high population. |
Group | Knowledge Score | Action Perception Score | Pollution Avoidance/Reduction Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
None | Mean | 5.74 | 0.44 | 2.12 |
N | 50 | 50 | 50 | |
Std. Deviation | 2.954 | 0.787 | 1.493 | |
Eco group | Mean | 6.13 | 0.75 | 2.38 |
N | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
Std. Deviation | 1.356 | 0.886 | 1.685 | |
Total | Mean | 5.79 | 0.48 | 2.16 |
N | 58 | 58 | 58 | |
Std. Deviation | 2.783 | 0.800 | 1.508 |
Descriptives | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Know/School | N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error | Interval for Mean | Minimum | Maximum | |
Lower Bound | Upper Bound | |||||||
St. Paul’s | 26 | 7.19 | 2.669 | 0.523 | 6.11 | 8.27 | 3 | 11 |
Sunny Hill | 32 | 4.66 | 2.350 | 0.415 | 3.81 | 5.50 | 0 | 10 |
Total | 58 | 5.79 | 2.783 | 0.365 | 5.06 | 6.52 | 0 | 11 |
Response | School | Total | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
St. Paul’s | Sunny Hill | |||
Yes, I did | Count | 16 | 16 | 32 |
% of Total | 27.6% | 27.6% | 55.2% | |
No, I Didn’t | Count | 1 | 0 | 1 |
% of Total | 1.7% | 0% | 1.7% | |
I don’t know | Count | 9 | 16 | 25 |
% of Total | 15.5% | 27.6% | 43.1% | |
Count | 26 | 32 | 58 | |
% of Total | 44.8% | 55.2% | 100.0% |
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Otu, E.; Ashworth, K.; Tsekleves, E.; Ackley, A. Empowering London Primary School Communities to Know and Tackle Air Pollution Exposure. Sustainability 2024, 16, 7491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177491
Otu E, Ashworth K, Tsekleves E, Ackley A. Empowering London Primary School Communities to Know and Tackle Air Pollution Exposure. Sustainability. 2024; 16(17):7491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177491
Chicago/Turabian StyleOtu, Ekpo, Kirsti Ashworth, Emmanuel Tsekleves, and Aniebietabasi Ackley. 2024. "Empowering London Primary School Communities to Know and Tackle Air Pollution Exposure" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7491. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177491