Six in 10 UK classrooms have worse air quality than traffic-filled roads, according to a study

Digital pollution monitors were used in 26 schools on 10 separate school days by children and their teachers.
Volatile organic compounds, which come from plastics, glues, disinfectants, and solvents were among the main pollutants recorded with fine dust and liquid droplets suspended in the air, that can be caused by heating, transportation, cooking also detected.
The study included schools located in UK cities, towns and villages and revealed the indoor air pollution of village schools is no better than that of city schools.
And in some cases, levels exceeded the 1-hour exposure threshold set by the WHO, meaning high air pollution that could cause one to experience adverse health effects.
The research was commissioned by natural daily nasal wash Otrivine Natural as part of an initiative called ‘Actions to Breathe Cleaner’.
It comes after the WHO’s categorisation of air pollution as the largest global environmental health threat, with 93 per cent per cent of children around the world breathing polluted air every day.
Sarah McDonald, GSK VP of Sustainability, said: “We want to inspire people to take action against the health impact of air pollution because children contribute the least to it but are some of the most vulnerable to its effects.
“One of the first steps is to be aware of your personal exposure and then learn the actions you can take to breathe cleaner.
“We discovered that indoor air quality can be worse than outdoors and therefore, as part of Actions to Breathe Cleaner, we recommend daily ventilation of classrooms, at times when outside traffic is at its lowest.
“Also, let’s not forget that our noses are our first line of defence, so another action is to wash your nose daily.”
The study also found while children know that air pollution is bad, they don’t know what to do about it.
After participating in the ‘Actions to Breathe Cleaner’

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