Air quality monitoring in scholar environments

Children are one of the population groups more vulnerable to health effects associated to urban air pollution. Children exposure estimations require knowledge of pollutant concentration levels in these particular environments, where they spend a great part of their time for many years. This study presents an experimental approach for air quality monitoring in schools including different measurement and monitoring techniques. Pollutant concentrations from nearby stations belonging to the urban air quality monitoring networks may not be representative. Therefore, local measurements, static and dynamic modes, can result more adequate to document actual pollution levels in scholar environments. This study analyzes experimental data obtained at three primary schools located in three districts of Madrid (Spain). Results from different measurement techniques show the rather different environmental conditions in each and also the influence of the schools themselves on the local air quality. As an example of this, it can be highlighted the influence of traffic emissions related to scholar transport on NO2 and PM10 levels measured in the school vicinity, that points at the main entrance of the school as a clear hot spot of local air pollution. Other anthropogenic activities such as distribution of goods and proximity of shopping centers also exert a significant influence on local traffic and therefore on air quality, which is relevant for exposure estimation. The indoor/outdoor study shows the infiltration process of gaseous and finest particle pollutants (NO2, black carbon, ultrafine particles), more related to traffic emissions. Scholar activities in the classroom have a greater influence on coarser particulate matter by resuspension processes.