INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2021 |
Outros Autores: | , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Livro |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | https://hdl.handle.net/10216/153998 |
Resumo: | The importance of evaluating indoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC), became a topic of utmost interest, especially during COVID-19 pandemic due to the increasing cleaning and disinfection of hands, surfaces and spaces, the most common measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. VOC presence in indoor environments can impair human health, particularly above threshold limit values. Thus, this study aimed to quantify the differences between VOC concentrations before and during COVID-19 pandemic in indoor air of one nursery and one primary school in Porto, Portugal. This study was carried out in early 2020 (before COVID-19 pandemic) and early 2021 (during COVID-19 pandemic) in two classrooms I07_A (nursery school) and S07_B (primary school). Both classrooms presented a similar school timetable between the two periods, but the personal and environmental hygiene throughout the day using alcohol-based sanitisers were hugely increased in 2021. Total VOC (TVOC) were monitored continuously with research-grade instruments for a minimum period of two consecutive weekdays. Two average periods were considered: (i) an average day period (hourly means of all weekdays); and (ii) an average occupancy period (hourly means during occupancy periods considering the school timetable). Descriptive statistical analysis, as well as normality (ShapiroWilk Test) and significance (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) tests were performed using the R software version 4.0.5. The statistical significance level considered was set to 0.05. TVOC concentrations exceeded the limit value in the Portuguese legislation (1,200 µg/m3) during occupancy period in both classrooms during COVID-19 pandemic, although they never exceeded before the pandemic. Moreover, a statistically significant increase (p-value < 0.05) on TVOC concentrations from 2020 to 2021 were observed in the two studied classrooms for both average day (mean difference: 647 µg/m3 and 1,170 µg/m3 for I07_A and S07_B, respectively) and average occupancy periods (mean difference: 521 µg/m3 and 2,730 µg/m3 for I07_A and S07_B, respectively). Therefore, it was possible to conclude that the continued use of alcohol-based products, as a result of COVID-19 prevention measures, could increase TVOC concentrations to unsafe levels in schools. (c) 2021 WIT Press. |
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INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURESThe importance of evaluating indoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC), became a topic of utmost interest, especially during COVID-19 pandemic due to the increasing cleaning and disinfection of hands, surfaces and spaces, the most common measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. VOC presence in indoor environments can impair human health, particularly above threshold limit values. Thus, this study aimed to quantify the differences between VOC concentrations before and during COVID-19 pandemic in indoor air of one nursery and one primary school in Porto, Portugal. This study was carried out in early 2020 (before COVID-19 pandemic) and early 2021 (during COVID-19 pandemic) in two classrooms I07_A (nursery school) and S07_B (primary school). Both classrooms presented a similar school timetable between the two periods, but the personal and environmental hygiene throughout the day using alcohol-based sanitisers were hugely increased in 2021. Total VOC (TVOC) were monitored continuously with research-grade instruments for a minimum period of two consecutive weekdays. Two average periods were considered: (i) an average day period (hourly means of all weekdays); and (ii) an average occupancy period (hourly means during occupancy periods considering the school timetable). Descriptive statistical analysis, as well as normality (ShapiroWilk Test) and significance (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) tests were performed using the R software version 4.0.5. The statistical significance level considered was set to 0.05. TVOC concentrations exceeded the limit value in the Portuguese legislation (1,200 µg/m3) during occupancy period in both classrooms during COVID-19 pandemic, although they never exceeded before the pandemic. Moreover, a statistically significant increase (p-value < 0.05) on TVOC concentrations from 2020 to 2021 were observed in the two studied classrooms for both average day (mean difference: 647 µg/m3 and 1,170 µg/m3 for I07_A and S07_B, respectively) and average occupancy periods (mean difference: 521 µg/m3 and 2,730 µg/m3 for I07_A and S07_B, respectively). Therefore, it was possible to conclude that the continued use of alcohol-based products, as a result of COVID-19 prevention measures, could increase TVOC concentrations to unsafe levels in schools. (c) 2021 WIT Press.20212021-01-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/bookapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10216/153998eng10.2495/air210071Juliana SáBranco, PTBSAlvim Ferraz, MCMMartins, FGSousa, SIVinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-11-29T14:55:55Zoai:repositorio-aberto.up.pt:10216/153998Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-20T00:11:51.384510Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
title |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
spellingShingle |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES Juliana Sá |
title_short |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
title_full |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
title_fullStr |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
title_full_unstemmed |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
title_sort |
INDOOR VOC CONCENTRATIONS at NURSERY and PRIMARY SCHOOLS: IMPACT of COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
author |
Juliana Sá |
author_facet |
Juliana Sá Branco, PTBS Alvim Ferraz, MCM Martins, FG Sousa, SIV |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Branco, PTBS Alvim Ferraz, MCM Martins, FG Sousa, SIV |
author2_role |
author author author author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Juliana Sá Branco, PTBS Alvim Ferraz, MCM Martins, FG Sousa, SIV |
description |
The importance of evaluating indoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC), became a topic of utmost interest, especially during COVID-19 pandemic due to the increasing cleaning and disinfection of hands, surfaces and spaces, the most common measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. VOC presence in indoor environments can impair human health, particularly above threshold limit values. Thus, this study aimed to quantify the differences between VOC concentrations before and during COVID-19 pandemic in indoor air of one nursery and one primary school in Porto, Portugal. This study was carried out in early 2020 (before COVID-19 pandemic) and early 2021 (during COVID-19 pandemic) in two classrooms I07_A (nursery school) and S07_B (primary school). Both classrooms presented a similar school timetable between the two periods, but the personal and environmental hygiene throughout the day using alcohol-based sanitisers were hugely increased in 2021. Total VOC (TVOC) were monitored continuously with research-grade instruments for a minimum period of two consecutive weekdays. Two average periods were considered: (i) an average day period (hourly means of all weekdays); and (ii) an average occupancy period (hourly means during occupancy periods considering the school timetable). Descriptive statistical analysis, as well as normality (ShapiroWilk Test) and significance (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) tests were performed using the R software version 4.0.5. The statistical significance level considered was set to 0.05. TVOC concentrations exceeded the limit value in the Portuguese legislation (1,200 µg/m3) during occupancy period in both classrooms during COVID-19 pandemic, although they never exceeded before the pandemic. Moreover, a statistically significant increase (p-value < 0.05) on TVOC concentrations from 2020 to 2021 were observed in the two studied classrooms for both average day (mean difference: 647 µg/m3 and 1,170 µg/m3 for I07_A and S07_B, respectively) and average occupancy periods (mean difference: 521 µg/m3 and 2,730 µg/m3 for I07_A and S07_B, respectively). Therefore, it was possible to conclude that the continued use of alcohol-based products, as a result of COVID-19 prevention measures, could increase TVOC concentrations to unsafe levels in schools. (c) 2021 WIT Press. |
publishDate |
2021 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2021 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/book |
format |
book |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://hdl.handle.net/10216/153998 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10216/153998 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
10.2495/air210071 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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