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School air quality and thermal comfort: a multi-pollutant seasonal assessment

2025Journal article Open access
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Naturais::Ciências da Terra e do Ambiente
datacite.subject.fosCiências Naturais::Outras Ciências Naturais
datacite.subject.sdg03:Saúde de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis
dc.contributor.authorCharres, Isabella
dc.contributor.authorFurst, Leonardo
dc.contributor.authorFurst, Leonardo
dc.contributor.authorVicente, Estela D.
dc.contributor.authorSoares, Marlene
dc.contributor.authorViegas, Carla
dc.contributor.authorCervantes, Renata
dc.contributor.authorCerqueira, Mário
dc.contributor.authorPena, Pedro
dc.contributor.authorFeliciano, Manuel
dc.contributor.authorAlves, Célia
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-07T14:49:32Z
dc.date.available2025-11-07T14:49:32Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractAs evidence of children's vulnerability to air pollution grows, research on school air quality has increased significantly in the 21st century. Given the complex factors influencing indoor and outdoor air quality in schools, each study offers valuable insights. This study contributes by assessing particulate matter, gaseous pollutants, thermal comfort and microorganisms in a large school encompassing different education levels over two seasons. The assessment combined passive and continuous sampling using various techniques, including chromatography and estimations of air change and ventilation rates. Classroom ventilation was insufficient to ensure adequate air renewal. During class hours, CO2 concentrations ranged from 760 to 1,118 ppm in winter and from 807 to 1,022 ppm in spring, repeatedly exceeding 1,000 ppm. CO2 and PM10 concentrations were significantly higher during school hours than when the classrooms were empty, indicating the strong influence of school activities. In contrast, PM1 and PM2.5 concentrations were more influenced by external factors, especially outside of school hours. The lack of thermal comfort created an unhealthy environment. Carbonyl concentrations were higher in classrooms (average: 68.8 mu g m-3) compared to the schoolyard (3.86 mu g m-3), in both seasons. Microbial analysis revealed the presence of fungi with toxigenic potential, with the highest fungal diversity observed in spring. These findings highlight that while some pollutant levels may appear low, they can occasionally reach extremely high levels, even in newer buildings. The novelty of this research lies in demonstrating that, despite recent improvements and numerous studies, significant progress is still needed to ensure healthier school settings.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors would especially like to thank the school principal and teachers, who have willingly participated in this study. The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to CESAM (UID Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar UID/50006 + LA/P/0094/2020, doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0094/2020), through national funds, and to the PhD fellows I. Charres (DOI: 10.54499/2022.12142.BD), L. Furst (DOI:10.54499/2020.08461.BD), and M. Soares (2023.04826.BD). FCT is also acknowledged for the research contract under Scientific Employment Stimulus to Estela D. Vicente (DOI:10.54499/2022.00399.CEECIND/CP1720/CT0012). This work was performed within the project: Source drivers of (eco)TOxicity of airborne Particles in school environments in Estarreja: Strategies for minimising the risks (STOP) – funded by the LabEx-DRIIHM-OHM programme (CNRS – INEE, France). H&TRC authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT/MCTES national support through the UIDB/05608/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/05608/2020) and UIDP/05608/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/05608/2020).
dc.identifier.citationCharres, Isabella; Furst, Leonardo; Vicente, Estela D.; Soares, Marlene; Viegas, Carla; Cervantes, Renata; Pena, Pedro; Cerqueira, Mário; Feliciano, Manuel; Alves, Célia (2025). School air quality and thermal comfort: A multi-pollutant seasonal assessment. Journal of Building Engineering. ISSN 2352-7102. 113, p. 1-20
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jobe.2025.113997
dc.identifier.issn2352-7102
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/34996
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relationAssociated Laboratory for Green Chemistry - Clean Technologies and Processes
dc.relationCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies
dc.relationHOPE: HousehOld Particulate mattEr: sources, chemical composition and toxicity.
dc.relationHealth and Technology Research Center
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Building Engineering
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectSchoolchildren
dc.subjectAir quality
dc.subjectParticulate matter
dc.subjectGaseous pollutants
dc.subjectBioburden
dc.titleSchool air quality and thermal comfort: a multi-pollutant seasonal assessmenteng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleAssociated Laboratory for Green Chemistry - Clean Technologies and Processes
oaire.awardTitleCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies
oaire.awardTitleHOPE: HousehOld Particulate mattEr: sources, chemical composition and toxicity.
oaire.awardTitleHealth and Technology Research Center
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UID%2FQUI%2F50006%2F2013/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0094%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/CEEC IND5ed/2022.00399.CEECIND%2FCP1720%2FCT0012/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F05608%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.endPage20
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Building Engineering
oaire.citation.volume113
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStreamCEEC IND5ed
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameFurst
person.familyNameFeliciano
person.givenNameLeonardo
person.givenNameManuel
person.identifier.ciencia-idA41D-C8EF-8809
person.identifier.ciencia-id2D11-7230-702B
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-0313-4915
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-3147-4511
person.identifier.scopus-author-id6603358480
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
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project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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