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Low-cost indoor air pollution monitoring helps protect children’s health

Researchers pinpointed sources of air pollution within classrooms and whether they came from inside or outside the room.

24 September 2024
Teacher speaks to children in classroom

University of Birmingham researchers have developed a low-cost means of measuring indoor air quality in schools

University of Birmingham researchers have developed a low-cost means of measuring indoor air quality in schools – creating new opportunities to safeguard the health of young people.

The researchers Installed air pollution sensors in three classrooms at a Cardiff high school - measuring particulate matter (PM), which is the most important pollutant for human health. The sensors allowed researchers to pinpoint the sources of air pollution within the classrooms and whether they came from inside or outside the room.

Sensor data showed that 93-98% of tiny PM1 pollutants originated outside the building. This contribution decreased as particle size increased, with outdoor sources accounting for 74-89% of PM2.5 and 19-40% of larger PM10 particles respectively.

In addition to outdoor sources, they discovered that differences in classroom PM concentration related to differences in lesson activities and frequency, whether the room was carpeted or hard floored, and the classroom’s location within the school.

Indoor air quality is becoming one of the most important factors for public health, as people spend far more time indoors compared to outdoors”. “By combining low-cost air pollution sensors with algorithms to determine pollution source, we can understand the factors affecting indoor air quality within a typical UK school - measuring air pollution concentrations during a typical school week and subsequent holiday period.

Owain Rose - University of Birmingham Clean Air Fellow

Published in Indoor Air this is the first paper published by McCall MacBain Clean Air Fellows studying on the master’s degree in Air Pollution Management and Control at the University of Birmingham.

Co-author and Clean Air Fellow Owain Rose commented: “Indoor air quality is becoming one of the most important factors for public health, as people spend far more time indoors compared to outdoors”.

“By combining low-cost air pollution sensors with algorithms to determine pollution source, we can understand the factors affecting indoor air quality within a typical UK school - measuring air pollution concentrations during a typical school week and subsequent holiday period.”

The researchers discovered PM levels remained within World Health Organisation guidelines whilst students were in the building during school hours – with the dominant sources of PM1 and PM2.5 coming from outdoors, whilst PM10 sources were mainly from indoor sources.

Our approach is easily translated to other indoor locations worldwide and could be scaled due to its low cost. It would allow air quality management in locations crucial for the public health and educational outcomes of children.

Catrin Rathbone - University of Birmingham Clean Air Fellow

Co-author and Clean Air Fellow Owain Rose commented: “Indoor air quality is becoming one of the most important factors for public health, as people spend far more time indoors compared to outdoors." 

The high school studied is in an urban area of Cardiff and accommodates approximately 900 pupils, between the ages of 11 and 19. For the two-week study period, three optical particle counter (OPC) sensors were installed in a religious studies classroom, an English studies classroom, and a home economics classroom.

Air pollution is a significant global environmental challenge that endangers human health, especially among vulnerable populations like children.

Schools represent a significant microenvironment for exposure to air pollution during childhood. In the UK, children spend 14.1% of their total year in school, making healthy indoor air quality within school environments vital for safeguarding their health.

The Clean Air Fund and the University of Birmingham, with the generous support of the McCall MacBain Foundation, launched the innovative Clean Air Fellowship in 2022 and the programme has now entered its third year.

Designed by academics who are world-leading in their field, the programme identifies individuals who can demonstrate a strong rationale for studying air pollution and can commit to tackling the problem through their career choice after they graduate.

The Fellowship focusses on recruiting future clean air leaders from the UK and to address the high air pollution levels in Central and Eastern Europe. The partnership with the Clean Air Fund creates extra-curricular learning and networking opportunities through the world’s largest philanthropically funded organisation dedicated to challenging air pollution.

The Fellowships are designed to lay the foundations for atmospheric scientists to progress in this field and contribute to resolving atmospheric pollution issues in their countries. I’m delighted to see Owain and Catrin – two members of our first cohort - making such a valuable contribution to the air pollution debate with their first published paper.

Professor Francis Pope - University of Birmingham

Professor Francis Pope, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “The University of Birmingham is passionate about clean air – we’re at the forefront of research on the causes and effects of air pollution upon human health across the UK and around the globe.

“The Fellowships are designed to lay the foundations for atmospheric scientists to progress in this field and contribute to resolving atmospheric pollution issues in their countries. I’m delighted to see Owain and Catrin – two members of our first cohort - making such a valuable contribution to the air pollution debate with their first published paper.”

Imogen Martineau from the Clean Air Fund stated “It has been amazing to see the success of the first Clean Air Fellow cohort. Owain and Catrin have been amazing ambassadors, and it is great to see them continuing their clean air journeys through taking jobs with leading environmental consultancies that specialise in air quality.”

The University of Birmingham is at the forefront of research on the causes and effects of air pollution upon human health across the United Kingdom and globally. Birmingham has over 100 researchers studying clean air from across its five colleges. The campus also operates state-of-the-art pollution research facilities, which have been commissioned for several seminal air pollution studies.

Notes for editors

For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0)782 783 2312. For out-of-hours enquiries, please call +44 (0) 7789 921 165. 

The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.

‘Investigating indoor air pollution sources and student’s exposure within school classrooms: using a low-cost sensor and source apportionment approach’ - Owain Rose, Dimitrios Bousiotis, Catrin Rathbone, and Francis D. Pope is published in Indoor Air.

Featured staff

  • Professor Francis Pope

    Professor of Atmospheric Science

    Staff profile for Professor Francis Pope. Francis is an environmental scientist with wide ranging interests in the atmospheric sciences, human health and sustainable cities. University of Birmingham

    Phone: +44 (0)121 414 9067
    Email: f.pope@bham.ac.uk

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