1. Indoor Air in Tribal Schools
Mansel A Nelson
Tribal Environmental Education Outreach Program
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals
Northern Arizona University
Welcome to Indoor Air in Tribal Schools – Asthma, Tools for Schools, Radon and Mold, the fifth in the series of six webinars for the Clean, Green and Healthy Tribal Schools Initiative that have been broadcast each Wednesday since January 18 and through February 22 at this same time. Several of the programs are double features, such as the one next week on Energy Conservation and Water Conservation.
You are joining 106 other guests from communities, tribes, government agencies, universities, child care programs, state employees and businesses. Thank you for your interest in the health of our schools and communities.
nau.edu/iaqtc

2. Indoor Air in Tribal Schools
IAQ in Tribal Schools
EPA IAQ Tools for Schools
Open Airways
ITEP Resources
Mansel: After an introduction to our lungs, we will be talking about IAQ in tribal schools. We will introduce the EPA Tools for Schools program, which can help you manage the air quality in your school building. Components of the TfS program include asthma, radon and mold, which we will also be talking about. Finally we will share some resources from our organization – the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals.
Graylynn: Both Mansel and I worked on separate occasions with the Tohono O’Odham school and environmental office to conduct indoor air assessments. During both visits, we worked with the teachers and students on the importance of conducting indoor air quality assessments as well. We also walked through the assessment process with the students and staff. Pictured is a Tohono O’Odham student with a Wizard Stick, which will be described later in our presentation.
Indoor Air Quality Assessment at Tohono O’Odham

3. What are common symptoms indicating IAQ issues in schools?
Eye, nose, and throat irritation
Coughing, sneezing, and wheezing
Asthma attacks
Headaches
Fatigue
Aggravated allergies and asthma
Respiratory infections
Graylynn: Individuals in school may notice there is an indoor air quality issue if they begin experiencing symptoms such as couching, headaches, and eye, nose, and throat irritation.
Toronto Sun
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4. What are common concerns in tribal schools?
Many older buildings don’t have active ventilation
Schools with HVAC may reduce fresh air intake to conserve energy (and money)
Mold (really a moisture issue)
Back-logged Maintenance
Shortage of custodial staff
Obsolete cleaning practices
Mansel: Tribal schools have many of the issues that appear in all schools. One of the issues I frequently see as I visit schools is that tribal schools are often older buildings that don’t have active ventilation, thus depending on doors and windows for ventilation. Tribal schools that do have HVAC systems often reduce their fresh air intake to conserve energy and money. In part because of back-logged maintenance, tribal schools will often have leaky roofs, which results in mold growth. Between back-logged maintenance and a shortage of custodial staff tribal buildings are often poorly maintained and the custodian staff are often using obsolete cleaning practices.
Toronto Sun
nau.edu/iaqtc

5. What are pollutant sources in tribal schools?
People – everyone is a source of pollutants
Personal care products
Students & staff with communicable diseases
Radon
Classroom pets
Excess moisture leading to mold
Dry-erase markers and chalk
Mansel: The most common pollutant source is people. Each person brings with them a variety of pollutants including body odors and attempts to hide body odors with chemicals. People also carry diseases which can be shared via the air. An important pollutant source often overlooked is radon, which comes from the earth. We will be talking more about radon later in the presentation. Teachers and students bring a variety of air pollutant sources into the room including pets and dirt on their feet. The classroom can also be impacted by pollutants from the outside. The picture represents something I find all too often in classrooms. When I asked a teacher why they had a chemical “air freshener” in the classroom I was informed that sixth graders stink. Air fresheners in the classroom add more pollutants to the air and should be recognized as a cry for help.
nau.edu/iaqtc

6. What are pollutant sources in tribal schools? (cont.)
Cleaning materials
Odors from paint, caulk, and adhesives
Insects and other pests
Odors from trash
Outdoor pollutants

7. Indoor Air Quality in Tribal Schools
Promote a healthy learning environment at your school to reduce absenteeism, improve test scores and enhance student and staff productivity
Graylynn: And now I’d like to introduce the Tools for Schools Program. The Tools for Schools Program was developed by the EPA and is a comprehensive indoor air quality management program. The purpose of the program is to promote a healthy learning environment to reduce absenteeism, improve test scores and enhance student and staff productivity.
nau.edu/iaqtc

8. What is the EPA IAQ TfS Program?
Guides & Check lists for
IAQ Coordinator
Teachers
Administrators
Maintenance staff
Health staff
Video Collection
Action plan
Ventilation basics
Walk through guide
Graylynn: A Tools for Schools Action Kit is available online through the EPA website. The kit provides simple, easy-to-follow steps to implement an indoor air quality management program. The kit includes resources, checklists for the various individuals within a school such as the cafeteria staff and custodial staff. The Action Kit is available online through the website address
IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit
nau.edu/iaqtc

9. Guides and Checklists nau.edu/iaqtc
Graylynn: This image shows all the different checklists available, checklists for different professionals working in a school like the teachers, nurses, facility manger, and food service professionals. They are easy to follow and understand and will help you identify potential indoor air quality issues within a school.
nau.edu/iaqtc

10. Framework for IAQ TfS Key Drivers 1. Organize 4. Act
Get buy in from school leadership
Create a Team & Coordinator
2. Assess
Do initial school walk-through
Listen to occupants
3. Plan
Prioritize actions
Develop goals
4. Act
Education of occupants
5. Evaluate
Measure impacts
Return on Investment (ROI)
6. Communicate
Transparent
Share results
Graylynn: The Framework is designed to promote the proven approaches and strategies for IAQ management and can help everyone involved in your IAQ program understand the overarching purpose of the work that your team does every day and how those day-to-day tasks can translate into significant environmental health achievements in your schools.
nau.edu/iaqtc

11. Framework for IAQ TfS Technical Solutions Quality HVAC
Control Moisture/Mold
Integrated Pest Management
Effective Cleaning/Maintenance
Materials Selection
Aggressive Source Control
Graylynn: The technical solutions help school faciltiies and maintenance staff address issues to effectively manage indoor air quality risks.
For example, solutions for providing quality HVAC include:
Inspect HVAC systems on a regular basis and establish a maintenance plan.
Change filters on a regular basis.
Keep unit ventilators clear of books, papers, and other tiems.
Mansel will address moisture and source control and a previous
webinar with Mike Daniels addressed Integrated Pest Management.

12. What else could we consider?
Measurements
Smoke Stick to measure air movement
Carbon Dioxide monitor to measure ventilation
Carbon monoxide monitor
Moisture meters
Mansel: In addition to the EPA TfS program we would recommend some additional basic measurements. The picture shows Kermit Snow from Ft Belknap using a smoke stick, which is a method for detecting air flow. Kermit is checking to make sure the fume hood is working. Another device that I would highly recommend is a carbon dioxide meter, which allows you to indirectly measure ventilation. When a classroom is not adequately ventilated you can assume other pollutants are also building up, including body odors. A carbon monoxide monitor is important for any building that has combustion devices such as hot water heaters, boilers and stoves. We would also recommend a moisture meter to help identify moisture problems that may lead to mold. There are many other measurements you might want to consider, but I consider these as basic.
nau.edu/iaqtc

13. Student Involvement Curricular activities Assessment Feedback
Communication
Curriculum Resources
Hydroville
IAQ Lesson Plans understanding-the-indoor.html
Green Ribbon Schools
Graylynn: Student involvement is a great way to teach about indoor air quality while conducting an assessment of the school.
Hydroville, one of the resources listed, has 34 lessons on indoor air quality. Students work in teams to solve environmental health problems based on real-life occurrences. This integrated curricula promotes with teamwork, critical thinking, subject integration, and problem-solving. It’s a wonderful resources that we used for our summer program.
nau.edu/iaqtc

14. Open Airways for Schools
Provided by American Lung Association
Educates and empowers children for asthma self- management.
You can facilitate Open Airways instruction in tribal schools
Become an instructor OR
Connect instructors with schools
airways/open-airways-for-schools-1.html
Graylynn: Asthma in tribal communities is a particular concern.
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that asthma affects almost 12 percent of people living in tribal communities – nearly double the current national average of 7 percent. Asthma also affects American Indian/Alaska Native children at a higher rate than children nationwide.
nau.edu/iaqtc

15. Conducting Building Assessments
Provided by Northwest Clean Air Agency
Resources and ideas for building assessments
Information on mold in schools
Measurements in schools
Conducting walk-throughs
Graylynn: Asthma in tribal communities is a particular concern.
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that asthma affects almost 12 percent of people living in tribal communities – nearly double the current national average of 7 percent. Asthma also affects American Indian/Alaska Native children at a higher rate than children nationwide.
nau.edu/iaqtc

16. More Information EPA Healthy School Environments – www.epa.gov/schools
EPA Tools for Schools –
American Lung Association –
Healthy Schools Network –
OSHA –
CDC –
Graylynn: Provided is a list of additional resources. I want to highlight the EPA Healthy School Environments site. This site was especially created to promote healthy school environments.
EPA has resources in a number of programs that are designed to help schools and communities take action to protect children's health in one of the most important places - where children learn and live.
Assessment
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