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Teachers and Students
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Follow the links below to information prepared especially for you!
- School and District Officials
- Teachers and Students
- Facilities Staff
- Parents
- Health Care Professionals
- The Media
Envisioning Excellence: Lessons from Effective School Indoor Air Quality Programs. Learn more about this exciting tool.
What Should I Know about School IAQ and Children’s Health?
EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Program is designed to inform school communities, including teachers, about IAQ issues, the link between poor IAQ and some health problems, and ways to manage IAQ in schools to promote safe and healthy school environments. IAQ in schools is important because good IAQ can promote student, teacher, and staff health and performance, while poor IAQ in schools can lead to health problems and diminished performance. Failure to prevent or quickly resolve IAQ problems can:
- Increase the potential for short-term and long-term health problems (e.g., asthma, the number one cause of student absenteeism)
- Increase student, teacher, and staff absenteeism
- Reduce student, teacher, and staff productivity
- Accelerate deterioration and reduce efficiency of heating/cooling equipment
- Strain relationships among school administration, teacher, parents, and staff
- Create potential liability problems
The IAQ TfS Program provides information on common IAQ problems in schools, common pollutant sources and related health effects, and solutions for addressing and preventing IAQ problems to maintain healthy school environments.
Is Poor IAQ a Big Problem in Schools?
News headlines indicate that schools across the country experience a wide range of indoor air problems; some problems even lead to school evacuations and emergency renovations. In February 1995 the U.S. General Accounting Office reported that over half of U.S. schools have problems linked to poor IAQ. With nearly 56 million people, or 20 percent of the U.S. population, spending their days inside elementary and secondary schools, IAQ problems in schools are a significant concern.
What Kinds of IAQ Problems Do Schools Face?
Schools face a variety of potential IAQ problems, and every school’s IAQ is different. Schools may experience problems caused by:
- Biological contaminants (mold, dust mites, pet dander, pollen, etc.)
- Carbon dioxide (CO2)
- Carbon monoxide (CO)
- Dust
- Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) or Secondhand Smoke
- Lead (Pb)
- Nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2)
- Pesticides
- Radon (Rn)
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (such as formaldehyde, solvents, and cleaning agents)
- HVAC System: the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is not able to control air pollutant levels and/or ensure thermal comfort
Visit Schools, IAQ, and Health to learn more.
How Can IAQ Affect Health and Performance?
EPA's studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times, and occasionally more than 100 times, higher than outdoor levels. Exposure to indoor contaminants can cause serious health problems.
Common health effects related to poor IAQ include headache, dizziness, nausea, allergy attacks, respiratory problems, and sometimes life-threatening conditions, such as Legionnaire’s disease, carbon monoxide poisoning, and severe asthma attacks. To learn more about common health symptoms associated with exposures to indoor air contaminants, visit Common Symptoms.
Nearly one school-aged child in 13 has asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic disease. There is substantial evidence that indoor environmental exposure to allergens, such as dust mites, other pests, and molds, can trigger asthma symptoms. School-aged children s pend a great deal of time inside school buildings, and it is critical that schools control environmental asthma triggers that can cause and worsen asthma attacks. Visit Managing Asthma in Schools to learn more about steps schools can take to manage environmental asthma triggers.
Healthy IAQ contributes to a favorable learning environment for students, performance of teachers and staff, and a sense of comfort, health, and well-being. These elements combine to assist a school in its core mission: educating children. Visit Student Performance to learn more about how IAQ affects student performance, teacher performance, and school productivity in general.
Environmental Health in Schools
How Can I Learn More about Environmental Health in Schools?
Visit EPA’s Healthy School Environments Website at www.epa.gov/schools to find a wealth of information on all environmental health risks in schools and no-cost tools, guidance, and support for maintaining healthy school environments. The Healthy Schools Website covers indoor environmental issues and outdoor risks, water and air-based risks, materials selection, use and storage, and many other topic areas. On the Website, you will find information and no-cost resources and tools to help you manage lead in school drinking water, chemical exposures and management at school, diesel fumes from school buses, and much, much more.
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Find Information on Healthy School Environments Faster
Fact Sheet This fact sheet offers a brief overview of the Healthy School Environments Website. EPA created the Website as a "one stop shop" to provide valuable information for facility managers, school administrators, school nurses, parents, architects, engineers, teachers, students, and the general community on various school environmental health and safety topics important to improving the quality of school facilities. Included on the Website are links to environmental health and safety resources developed by EPA, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-government organizations.
A software tool is now available to assist school districts establish and manage comprehensive school facility self-assessment programs. The Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEAT) contains a fully integrated environmental health and safety checklist and is designed to be easily customized to reflect state and local requirements and policies. Go to the HealthySeat Website |
How Can I Protect IAQ at My School?
Join the Student / Teacher IAQ Activities Listserv to Get Teaching Ideas
EPA and the National Education Association (NEA) have launched a web-based distribution list to help teachers exchange ideas for improving the indoor environment in schools, while at the same time achieving their academic goals.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
StudentandTeacherIAQActivities 
Use EPA’s materials and Website to learn about IAQ issues, related health effects, and how student performance is affected by poor IAQ. Equip yourself with EPA’s materials to help you explain IAQ issues and promote EPA’s no-cost, voluntary programs to other teachers, parents, and your school community. Follow the tips in the IAQ TfS Action Kit about how to communicate about IAQ issues to build momentum for a school environmental health project. And, consider volunteering to help your school coordinate an IAQ management effort. In partnership with your students, fellow teachers, and school facility staff, you can use EPA’s resources and guidance to help maintain your school as a healthy and safe place for teachers to work.
Teachers can be powerful advocates for improved school air quality. If you want to promote awareness of IAQ problems in schools, the effects they can have on student and staff health, and simple steps the schools community can take to safeguard school health, download or order the IAQ TfS Action Kit.
The most effective school IAQ management teams often include a concerned teacher who is passionate about keeping students healthy and encouraging their top performance. Use your voice to promote school IAQ management and other environmental health issues in schools. Use EPA’s no-cost materials and guidance to help you be a hero for children’s environmental health in your school.
How Can I Incorporate IAQ Information in My Curriculum and Lesson Plans?
Integrating IAQ topics into your curriculum can empower and educate your students, inform your students of actions they can take to improve school IAQ, and help build understanding and support for a school-wide IAQ management program. IAQ issues could be taught in environmental science, chemistry, statistics, math, and many other classes. Teachers who have incorporated IAQ information in their lesson plans have reported increased class participation, greater respect for the classroom environment, and increased awareness of how personal actions affect the environment.
Individual students or environmental science clubs can participate in or take the lead in implementing EPA's IAQ TfS Program, learning about the environment while improving conditions in their schools. Visit IAQ Curricula to learn more about how two school districts involved students in their IAQ efforts. Learn more about using the IAQ TfS Action Kit to develop an IAQ management program in your school.
What Can I Do to Maintain Good IAQ in My Classroom?
Attention all Art and Science Teachers!
How Can I Manage Chemical Use in My Classroom or Lab?
If your classroom instruction includes the use of chemicals, such as those used in some art or science classes, visit Chemical Management to learn more about chemical purchasing, management, and disposal issues.
Whether your school uses the IAQ TfS Action Kit or not, teachers can download the IAQ Backgrounder and the Teacher Checklist from the IAQ TfS Action Kit for tips on identifying potential IAQ problems and preventing them. Use these materials to learn more about what you can do in your classroom. Consider a few basic methods for managing indoor air pollutants and think about how each might be applied in your classroom setting:
- Manage the sources of pollution – For example, ask bus drivers not to idle next to the fresh air intake and ask facilities staff to move garbage away from air intakes; support a ban on smoking in the school environment so that no one is exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at school; make sure the facilities staff know of any sources of moisture that could encourage mold growth in your classroom.
- Consider classroom pets – If classroom pets cause allergic reactions or trigger asthma attacks, either relocate the pet away from sensitive students or consider replacing the animal with a classroom fish, or an animal that will not trigger allergy and asthma attacks in any students.
- Use exhaust fans – Remove pollutants before they can disperse into the indoor air by ensuring that exhaust fans in your classroom are operating correctly and are not blocked by books, posters, or other classroom materials.
- Ensure adequate ventilation – Good classroom ventilation is important because cleaner (outdoor) air can dilute the polluted (indoor) air that people breathe. Make sure the ventilation system in your classroom is operating and is free of debris. Some teachers and students might use a ventilation unit as a shelf, but doing so may compromise IAQ by preventing the necessary fresh air from entering the classroom. For situations such as painting, pesticide application, or chemical spills, temporarily increasing the ventilation can be useful in diluting the concentration of noxious fumes in the air.
- Reduce dust mites – If you have furniture or draperies in your classroom, ask the cleaning staff to vacuum them thoroughly and, if possible, wash them once per week in hot water to reduce dust mites and other pests
How Can I Get the IAQ TfS Action Kit at No Cost?
Download parts of the Kit or place an order to receive a complete Kit at
no cost at
epa.gov/iaq/schools/
actionkit.html
Does EPA Provide Materials at No Cost to Help Teachers Understand IAQ and School Environmental Health?
Yes. EPA provides a wide variety of materials at no cost. Teachers may use these materials to understand IAQ issues in their classrooms and schools and learn how to institute an IAQ management program. EPA makes many of its products available online for quick and easy download. You can also order materials from EPA and receive hard copies at no cost.
Teachers may be particularly interested in some of the materials described below. View a list of all IAQ in Schools publications and learn how to order materials from EPA at no-cost by visiting the Publications page.
Learn More About the IAQ TfS Program
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Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Fact Sheet This fact sheet offers a brief overview of the concerns related to poor IAQ in schools and describes the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Program, established by EPA in 1995. The IAQ TfS Program and related resources offer voluntary guidance for schools on how to implement and sustain a proactive IAQ management plan to identify, correct, and prevent IAQ problems to create and maintain healthy and safe learning environments.
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IAQ Tools for Schools - Actions to Improve IAQ
EPA designed this colorful tri-fold brochure as the primary resource to market the IAQ TfS Program to school staff and other stakeholders. This brochure includes insert cards with guidance and action items for facility managers, teachers, administrators, and health professionals on how to implement the program and improve IAQ in schools.
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Indoor Air Quality and Student Performance
Fact Sheet Revised in August 2003, this fact sheet offers the latest information and data about poor indoor air quality (IAQ), it causes, health consequences, and solutions. The quality of indoor air declines when schools fail to follow simple practices that help to maintain a safe and healthy indoor environment. Recent data and evidence show that exposure to poor IAQ can cause or exacerbate illnesses, especially asthma and allergies, in children and adults. In addition, poor IAQ can reduce a person's ability to perform specific mental tasks requiring concentration, calculation, or memory. This fact sheet is a good resource to help school administrators understand that good indoor air quality can enhance student performance, a key measure of success for schools.
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Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Case Studies Schools and school districts across the nation are reaping the benefits of improved IAQ by successfully implementing the IAQ TfS Action Kit and program. EPA has developed case studies describing the experiences of schools that implemented good IAQ strategies and practices. Each school profiled has overcome different barriers – financial, legal, managerial, health-related, or community-related – through teamwork and a strong commitment to providing a healthy learning environment for students and staff.
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Mold in Schools Fact Sheet The Mold in School Fact Sheet provides an organized summary of information related to facts of mold growth in school buildings and portable classrooms. Concern about indoor exposure to mold has been increasing as the public becomes aware that exposure to mold can cause a variety of health effects and symptoms, including allergic reactions. Parents are especially concerned about the conditions of school buildings and how mold may affect their children. Because of the mold risk and media attention, school administrators should understand the mechanics of mold growth and take steps to avoid the moisture and mold problems.
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Learn How to Manage Asthma in Your Classroom
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Managing Asthma in the School Environment
This guide offers valuable information for all school staff, especially school nurses, teachers, and maintenance staff, on how to identify and control common environmental factors in schools that trigger asthma attacks. Resources include an "Asthma Action Card" which can serve as a daily asthma management plan. School nurses can share these resources with parents to raise awareness of asthma triggers and to help manage asthma at home and school effectively. Also included are easy tips for managing asthma in schools, including using the IAQ TfS Action Kit and Program to improve IAQ in the learning environment.
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IAQ Tools for Schools Bulletin: Asthma and Allergy This Bulletin presents information about asthma triggers found in schools; ways to manage asthma; several schools and organizations that are making IAQ a priority; and EPA's mold guidance document.
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Visit the Publications page to view a list of all IAQ in Schools publications and resources.
How Can I Order EPA Materials at No Cost?
You can order Indoor Air Quality publications from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP):
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242-0419
Website: www.epa.gov/nscep
Phone: 1-800-490-9198
Fax: (301) 604-3408
E-mail: nscep@bps-lmit.comNSCEP operates a Toll-free phone service for EPA Publication Assistance with live customer service representative assistance Monday through Friday from 9:00am-5:30pm eastern time. Voice Mail is available after operating hours. You can fax or e-mail your publication requests. For technical assistance with NSCEP web pages, write to: nscep_nepis.tech@epa.gov
Please use the EPA Document Number, which is usually bolded or highlighted, when ordering from NSCEP. See our list of publications at www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs
How Do I Order Other EPA Publications? Click Here