Healthy Indoors
9
The School Environmental Health Problem
Providing a healthy, comfortable environment is
an important investment for students and staff.
Failure to respond promptly and effectively to poor
indoor air quality in schools can lead to severe
consequences. These may include an increase
in short and long-term health problems, costly re-
pairs, potential liability issues and greater risk that
schools will need to close and temporarily relo-
cate staff and students.
According to Healthy Schools Network, in the
summary report from their 2015 Environmental
Health at School workshop, "All children should
be considered at risk for learning and health prob-
lems due to the unexamined and unaddressed
environmental health hazards in their schools and
the lack of public health services for children at risk
or with suspected exposures at school." It goes
on to say, "Ideally, child care centers and PreK-12
schools would be distraction-free zones providing
safe, healthy, nurturing, and academically chal-
lenging environments for all children, and safe,
healthy, and supportive environments for all em-
ployees. But repeated studies have shown these
facilities fall far short, and are in fact harming the
health, safety, and learning of their occupants."
http://www.healthyschools.org/documents/
SUMMARY_FINAL.pdf
There are over 130,000 PK-12 schools and
childcare facilities where nearly 55-million chil-
dren, in the U.S. alone, spend a great deal of their
time. A staggering number of these facilities offer
sub-par indoor environments for their occupants.
According to the GAO, the poorest children in the
poorest communities tend to have the facilities in
the worst condition, and thus suffer the worst ex-
posures. Such exposures include asbestos, lead
from old paint and drinking water, mold and bac-
teria resulting from excessive moisture in building
materials and contents, and a host of chemicals,
many of those from carpeting, furniture, cleaning
compounds that are supposed to make the school
indoor environments healthier.
Recent research suggests that a school's physical
environment also can play a major role in academic
performance. Unfavorable conditions, such as leaky
