Indoor air quality (IAQ) assessment and respiratory symstoms among school children in selected primary schools /
The indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools has become a recent matter of concern among scientific communities and policymakers particularly on its impact towards children's health. Evidence keeps on emerging proving that poor IAQ in schools can cause multiple adverse health effects, which subseque...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Kuantan, Pahang :
Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia,
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Click here to view 1st 24 pages of the thesis. Members can view fulltext at the specified PCs in the library. |
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| Summary: | The indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools has become a recent matter of concern among scientific communities and policymakers particularly on its impact towards children's health. Evidence keeps on emerging proving that poor IAQ in schools can cause multiple adverse health effects, which subsequently affecting student's learning performances. To further understand the issue, this study was designed to investigate IAQ in schools with contrasting backgrounds and evaluate its possible relationships with the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among children. In general, the IAQ assessment was performed in two sampling campaigns, covering the Southwest (SW) and Northeast (NE) monsoonal seasons. Particulate matter (PM) and physical indoor air parameters were assessed via multi-instruments including both real-time and integrated sampling during the occupied and non-occupied period, while information concerning the respiratory symptoms among children was obtained via structured questionnaire adapted from American Thoracic Society's (ATS-DLD-78-C). PM mass loading was further analysed for its physicochemical characteristics via analytical methods, employing heavy metals detections via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and morphological analysis via scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM/EDX). Overall, it was found that indoor PM is spatially and temporally varies, as well as strongly depended upon factors of surrounding activities, meteorological conditions, and building occupancy. Meanwhile, ICP-MS analysis revealed that elements of Na, Al, Ca, Fe, Cr, and Zn were common constituents of PM and existed in moderately high concentration. Subsequent SEM/EDX analysis further found that an ensemble of these PM typically exists in a complex structure form, consisting of multi-elemental composition rather than chemically-uniform. From the findings, the dominance of outdoor-origin materials was notable, as most of the elements were identified as traces of anthropogenic releases as well as naturally abundant in soil and sea sprays. This could be primarily attributed to the higher infiltration of outdoor materials, with human occupancy and their respective activities be the main associated PM behaviour characteristics in promoting its infiltration, accumulation, and resuspension. On the other hand, the prevalence of respiratory symptoms was considered low. Bronchial asthma and persistent cough were the most prominent symptoms observed among the children, apart from significantly associated with the high coarse PM concentration. Since the exposure-effect relationship has been evident, this study hence suggests that exposure to these unfavourable indoor conditions could increase the risk of adverse respiratory effects and responsible for the increased of its prevalence. In conclusion, the overall outcomes indicated that the indoor air conditions in school settings are unacceptable. Therefore, it is imperative to implement appropriate safety and preventive measures to reduce the detrimental impacts, as well as to provide a conducive learning environment. |
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| Physical Description: | xii, 193 leaves : colour illustrations ; 30cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-158). |