Classroom conditions and CO2 concentrations and teacher health symptom reporting in 10 New York State Schools

This study assessed the relationship between teacher-reported symptoms and classroom carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Previous studies have suggested that poor indoor ventilation can result in higher levels of indoor pollutants, which may affect student and teacher health. Ten schools (9 elementary, 1 combined middle/high school) in eight New York State school districts were visited over a 4-month period in 2010. Carbon dioxide concentrations were measured in classrooms over 48-h, and teachers completed surveys assessing demographic information and self-reported symptoms experienced during the current school year. Data from 64 classrooms (ranging from 1 to 9 per school) were linked with 68 teacher surveys (for four classrooms, two surveys were returned). Overall, approximately 20% of the measured classroom CO2 concentrations were above 1000 parts per million (ppm), ranging from 352 to 1591ppm. In multivariate analyses, the odds of reporting neuro-physiologic (i.e., headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating) symptoms among teachers significantly increased (OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.02-1.64) for every 100ppm increase in maximum classroom CO2 concentrations and were non-significantly increased in classrooms with above-median proportions of CO2 concentrations greater than 1000ppm (OR=2.26, 95% CI=0.72-7.12).