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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Shao Lin, PhD¹, Amanda Reddy, MS¹, Christine Kielb, MS¹, Carl Thurnau, PE², and Syni-An A. Hwang, PhD¹. (1) Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, 547 River St, Troy, NY 12180, 518.402.7990, alr04@health.state.ny.us, (2) Office of Facilities Planning, New York State Education Department, Room 1060 Education Building Annex, Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234

Background: Asthma remains a leading cause of school absenteeism, prompting some school districts to adopt programs to manage asthma and reduce environmental triggers[1]. However, little is known about the presence or effectiveness of IAQ policies instituted at the district level. This study examines IAQ policies in NYS public school districts and individual school compliance with these policies.

Methods: Surveys regarding district IAQ policies including broad IAQ programs and specific components or actions were mailed to DFMs in NYS districts excluding NY City. In a separate survey, NYS elementary school custodians were questioned about school policies, environment and cleaning/maintenance practices for comparison with corresponding DFM responses.

Results: District-wide IAQ programs exist in 47% of the 326 responding districts, compared to 50% of public schools nationally[2]. More than 80% of DFMs reported policies/actions governing precautions during construction (99%), airing out newly painted areas (92%), IAQ complaint procedures/mechanisms (89%), maintenance logs (85%), and integrated pest management (81%). However, 30% of districts lacked an anti-idling policy, 48% had no classroom pet policy, 35% lacked a policy to use green-rated cleaning products and 19% had no policy to air out new carpets. Furthermore, policies instituted by districts may not always be translated into practice at the school level, e.g. among districts reporting anti-idling policies and among districts reporting policies to use green-rated cleaning products, less than half of the corresponding schools reported equivalent practices.

Conclusions: Further examination of district level IAQ policies and school compliance may highlight opportunities to close gaps between policy and implementation.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe the methods and results of a survey of district facilities managers in New York State (excluding New York City) public elementary schools.
• Describe findings related to the presence of indoor air quality (IAQ) policies in NYS school districts and the extent to which individual schools comply with these policies.
• Discuss the potential for these findings to help identify opportunities to close gaps between establishment of IAQ policies at the school district level and implementation of good IAQ practice at the school level.

Keywords: Air Quality, School Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.ppt format, 279.0 kb)