Investigation of Indoor and Outdoor Fine Particulate Matter Concentrations in Schools in Salt Lake City, Utah

Daniel Mendoza, Tabitha Benney, Ryan Bares, Benjamin Fasoli, Corbin Anderson, Shawn Gonzales, Erik Crosman, Sebastian Hoch
2022 Pollutants  
Although there is mounting evidence that suggests that air pollution is impactful to human health and educational outcomes, this is especially problematic in schools with higher air pollution levels. To understand whether all schools in an urban area are exposed to similar outdoor air quality and whether school infrastructure protects children equally indoors, we installed research-grade sensors to observe PM2.5 concentrations in indoor and outdoor settings to understand how unequal exposure to
more » ... indoor and outdoor air pollution impacts indoor air quality among high- and low-income schools in Salt Lake City, Utah. These data and resulting analysis show that poor air quality may impact school settings and the potential implications with respect to environmental inequality. Based on this approach, we found that during atmospheric inversions and dust events, there was a lag ranging between 35 and 73 min for the outdoor PM2.5 concentrations to follow a similar temporal pattern as the indoor PM2.5. This lag has policy and health implications and may help to explain rising concerns regarding reduced educational outcomes related to air pollution in urban areas.
doi:10.3390/pollutants2010009 fatcat:7delfzkblng3nkl76ywdn42qam