Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms

Despite the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Spanish educational centers were reopened after six months of lockdown. Ventilation was mostly adopted as a preventive measure to reduce the transmission risk of the virus. However, it could also affect indoor air quality (IAQ). Therefore, here we eval...

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Autores: Rodríguez Rodríguez, Diana, Urbieta, Itziar R., Velasco García, Angel, Campano, Miguel Ángel, Jiménez Martínez, Elena
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/157366
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/157366
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109717
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Classrooms
Ventilation
Indoor air quality
Hygrothermal comfort
Airborne transmission
COVID-19 infection risk
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spelling Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classroomsRodríguez Rodríguez, DianaUrbieta, Itziar R.Velasco García, AngelCampano, Miguel ÁngelJiménez Martínez, ElenaClassroomsVentilationIndoor air qualityHygrothermal comfortAirborne transmissionCOVID-19 infection riskDespite the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Spanish educational centers were reopened after six months of lockdown. Ventilation was mostly adopted as a preventive measure to reduce the transmission risk of the virus. However, it could also affect indoor air quality (IAQ). Therefore, here we evaluate the ventilation conditions, COVID-19 risk, and IAQ in secondary school and university classrooms in Toledo (central Spain) from November 2020 to June 2021. Ventilation was examined by monitoring outdoor and indoor CO2 levels. CO2, occupancy and hygrothermal parameters, allowed estimating the relative transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 (Alpha and Omicron BA.1), Hr, under different scenarios, using the web app COVID Riskairborne. Additionally, the effect of ventilation on IAQ was evaluated by measuring indoor/outdoor (I/O) concentration ratios of O3, NO2, and suspended particulate matter (PM). University classrooms, particularly the mechanically ventilated one, presented better ventilation conditions than the secondary school classrooms, as well as better thermal comfort conditions. The estimated Hr for COVID-19 ranged from intermediate (with surgical masks) to high (no masks, teacher infected). IAQ was generally good in all classrooms, particularly at the university ones, with I/O below unity, implying an outdoor origin of gaseous pollutants, while the source of PM was heterogeneous. Consequently, controlled mechanical ventilation systems are essential in educational spaces, as well as wearing well-fitting FFP2–N95 masks indoors is also highly recommended to minimize the transmission risk of COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases.ElsevierConstrucciones Arquitectónicas I2022info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/157366https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109717reponame:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevillainstname:Universidad de Sevilla (US)InglésBuilding and Environment, 226, 1-13.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109717info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:idus.us.es:11441/1573662026-06-17T12:51:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
title Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
spellingShingle Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
Rodríguez Rodríguez, Diana
Classrooms
Ventilation
Indoor air quality
Hygrothermal comfort
Airborne transmission
COVID-19 infection risk
title_short Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
title_full Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
title_fullStr Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
title_sort Assessment of indoor air quality and risk of COVID-19 infection in Spanish secondary school and university classrooms
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Rodríguez Rodríguez, Diana
Urbieta, Itziar R.
Velasco García, Angel
Campano, Miguel Ángel
Jiménez Martínez, Elena
author Rodríguez Rodríguez, Diana
author_facet Rodríguez Rodríguez, Diana
Urbieta, Itziar R.
Velasco García, Angel
Campano, Miguel Ángel
Jiménez Martínez, Elena
author_role author
author2 Urbieta, Itziar R.
Velasco García, Angel
Campano, Miguel Ángel
Jiménez Martínez, Elena
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Construcciones Arquitectónicas I
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Classrooms
Ventilation
Indoor air quality
Hygrothermal comfort
Airborne transmission
COVID-19 infection risk
topic Classrooms
Ventilation
Indoor air quality
Hygrothermal comfort
Airborne transmission
COVID-19 infection risk
description Despite the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Spanish educational centers were reopened after six months of lockdown. Ventilation was mostly adopted as a preventive measure to reduce the transmission risk of the virus. However, it could also affect indoor air quality (IAQ). Therefore, here we evaluate the ventilation conditions, COVID-19 risk, and IAQ in secondary school and university classrooms in Toledo (central Spain) from November 2020 to June 2021. Ventilation was examined by monitoring outdoor and indoor CO2 levels. CO2, occupancy and hygrothermal parameters, allowed estimating the relative transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 (Alpha and Omicron BA.1), Hr, under different scenarios, using the web app COVID Riskairborne. Additionally, the effect of ventilation on IAQ was evaluated by measuring indoor/outdoor (I/O) concentration ratios of O3, NO2, and suspended particulate matter (PM). University classrooms, particularly the mechanically ventilated one, presented better ventilation conditions than the secondary school classrooms, as well as better thermal comfort conditions. The estimated Hr for COVID-19 ranged from intermediate (with surgical masks) to high (no masks, teacher infected). IAQ was generally good in all classrooms, particularly at the university ones, with I/O below unity, implying an outdoor origin of gaseous pollutants, while the source of PM was heterogeneous. Consequently, controlled mechanical ventilation systems are essential in educational spaces, as well as wearing well-fitting FFP2–N95 masks indoors is also highly recommended to minimize the transmission risk of COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/11441/157366
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109717
url https://hdl.handle.net/11441/157366
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109717
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Building and Environment, 226, 1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109717
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
instname:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
instname_str Universidad de Sevilla (US)
reponame_str idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
collection idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
repository.name.fl_str_mv
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