Don Donovan European President of Camfil on how tackling the hidden dangers of air pollution in schools will help power education across Ireland

I recently caught up with Don Donovan, European President of Camfil to talk about the hidden dangers of air pollution in schools and how tackling it will help schools. Camfil is a leading provider of trusted clean air solutions that aims to protect people, processes, and the environment.

Don, you are a clean air expert, can you tell me a bit more about that?

For the last 32 years, my main focus has been working with our clients on helping to ensure clean air has been provided in their facility to help protect their people, their products, and their processes. By working with Camfil I have been able to work with a full range of clients to support their clean air requirements – from hospitals to help protect their patients from airborne contaminants (such as viruses) to office buildings, pharmaceutical plants, and other commercial and public buildings.

When we talk about air quality it’s about ensuring the air in your building achieves and exceeds recommended guidelines to ensure the protection of the people, products, and processes within an Indoor environment. The best thing about working with clean air is that the challenges each client has can vary from reducing dust or odour levels in a facility to ensuring that the client’s controlled environment requirements are met. Each client can have specific problems and finding the right solution to suit their needs is a great challenge

With schools reopening how will air pollution impact this? Especially the hidden dangers of indoor air pollution?

When we talk about the hidden dangers in air quality we are really focussing on the airborne contaminants that we cant see – from airborne viruses such as Covid 19, gaseous contaminants such as NO2,  Particulate Matter, and airborne allergens such as dust and pollen. So how do these airborne contaminants affect the schools? Well first let’s address why schools have to “Reopen”.

Due to the emergence of Covid 19,  schools were considered “High Risk” environments. If we look at schools in Ireland they have not been designed to ensure adequate clean air (as it’s never been a highlighted problem in Ireland) but now that we are in the middle of a pandemic we are starting to see the flaws in school design.

Around Europe, we are seeing the phrase “Hands, face, space and ventilate” as the key strategies to opening our business and schools but one thing is clearly missing and that is to filtrate. By simply bringing in outside air to our buildings (as a way of ventilation” we are potentially bringing in other airborne contaminants such as NO2, dust, and pollen that can have effects on our students’ health. Bringing in these other contaminants can trigger different allergic reactions in students. By using air filtration we can help ensure that the air is either free from or has reduced levels of these contaminants.

In many areas schools are open and it is important to consider the impact of air pollution on the school children.
Learn how department of education in Valencia, Spain is helping teachers and students.https://t.co/IdFf2UCw7s
Full study here: https://t.co/INvcCcQnhy pic.twitter.com/DP1intSaYJ

— Camfil Group (@CamfilGroup) March 31, 2021

In a guideline released by Harvard for schools, there has been a recommendation that school rooms should aim to achieve 6 air changes to reduce the risk of airborne transmission. The problem with this is that to adequately achieve these levels of clean air changes you need mechanical ventilation to ensure the air is safe and free from other contaminants. In Ireland, our schools are not designed with mechanical ventilation and this has an impact.

Opening schools that can not achieve the recommended air changes could lead to further virus outbreaks. In the Harvard guideline it talks about three steps to ensure your school is protected – Increase ventilation, Increase filtration efficiency and if this can not be done (which is the case for 90% of schools in Ireland) you should utilise HEPA air purification systems as these can help remove airborne contaminants and increase air changes in a room.

How will providing clean air to schools across Ireland power students’ education? 

Around Europe, we see that clean air is being put as a high priority for schools to ensure the students can return to schools in reduced risk environments. Solutions such as HEPA air purifiers are being utilised in schools in Germany, France, and Spain to improve the safety of students while in school.

The best part about this solution is that the units can be utilised long after this pandemic is over. Clean air will always be of benefit to the school. Clean air has been proven to increase productivity, improve mood and reduce sick days. I am sure you will agree that for schools or workplaces this would be an additional long-term benefit.

Creating reduced risk environments will help make the schools safer during current times but the improvement of air quality will have much more long term effects for the school students and teachers

How will improved air quality help fight future illnesses and viruses?

Covid 19, Influenza, and Measles are just a few of the high profile viruses that are considered airborne viruses. For these viruses to travel or remain in the air they need Poor ventilation and high particulate matter to survive. By improving air quality in a building we can reduce the risk of these viruses spreading through the air. By improving air changes and reducing particulate levels in a school or workplace, you can create a reduced risk environment. Obviously, clean air is not the silver bullet here but it’s a very simple step to take to help reduce the risk of virus outbreaks.

In Hospitals and Biosafety labs that deal with viruses on a day to day basis, filtration has always been a key tool to protect against virus outbreaks. Capturing the virus before it has time for the viral load in a room to increase or spread to another person is key. In Labs and Hospitals HEPA filters are utilised for this, so why should we not use the tried and tested solutions in all of our buildings?

Don clean air has been shown to help improve concentration levels and alertness, can you tell more about this?

There was a study done in Harvard around the effects of air quality on productivity in the workspace. When they compared two different offices – One with good air quality and one with poor air quality – It was shown that during cognitive tasks the people who worked in the clean air office were able to perform 61% better on cognitive tasks. When the ventilation in this facility was doubled they actually performed 100% better on cognitive tasks. When we consider schools having this type of performance improvement would be huge.

In regards to concentration levels and alertness have you ever had that midday or end of day slump after being in an office? Poor indoor air quality can lead to tiredness and fatigue in staff. By Improving the air quality you can help reduce this effect.