EPA announces school indoor air quality app

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday, as schools begin to reopen, that it has launched a mobile app to assist the agency in monitoring indoor air quality, based upon the agency’s “Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit.”

The agency developed the app to make IAQ assessments and management programs, which half of American schools have, more efficient. This is an important services as children spend 90 percent of the day inside, much of it at school, and poor air quality can impact the students’ health, attendance, concentration and performance. Unattended air quality issues can also lead to expensive and complicated cleanups. According to the agency’s announcement, a study has shown that green schools have 15 percent less absenteeism and five percent higher test scores.

The EPA aims to prevent 6,000 premature deaths, 150,000 childhood asthma attacks and 490,000 missed days of school or work by 2030 -- the school IAQ app is one tool towards that end. These goals are expected to generate up to $93 billion in climate and public health savings.

EPA testimony statements are available online at www.epa.gov.