Caught an article in CNN Health on the links between students' health and indoor air quality: the debilitating presence of mold, airborne dust and other pollutants in schools.
According to author David S. Martin, "Figures are hard to come by, but studies have estimated that a third or more of U.S. schools have mold, dust and other indoor air problems serious enough to provoke respiratory issues like asthma in students and teachers. A national survey of school nurses found that 40% knew children and staff adversely affected by indoor pollutants."
Mold is not quite the concern here in Arizona's dry Sonoran desert as it might be in moister locals, but we do perform a visual inspection for it when doing a Greenguard Environmental Institute based facility inspection for a client.
Dust (see above about a dry Sonoran desert), however, is a biggie.
Using HEPA filtration on our vacuums, vacuuming rather than dust mopping tile floors, using microfiber damp mops rather than string mops, and microfiber wipes rather than feather or lambs wool dusters, we've the systems in place to remove, rather than redistribute, dust, and to keep it out of the air. We also measure indoor air quality - airborne dust particles in the size range of most allergens - and share results with our clients. In a tightly sealed facility, cleaned multiple nights per week, we generally see a substantial reduction in airborne dust. It's called "cleaning for health". Clients appreciate the benefit.
If a school kid is home sick from a pathogen or allergen he inhaled at school, he cannot learn. If a client is home sick from a particle he inhaled at work, he cannot sign our check...
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