Grantee Research Project Results
2023 Progress Report: Informing school decision-making during wildfire events: evaluation of indoor PM2.5 exposures and associated health impacts in children
EPA Grant Number: R840232Title: Informing school decision-making during wildfire events: evaluation of indoor PM2.5 exposures and associated health impacts in children
Investigators: Reid, Colleen Elizabeth , Lamplugh, Aaron
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2024
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2022 through August 31,2023
Project Amount: $549,919
RFA: Interventions and Communication Strategies to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposures (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Early Career Awards , Airborne Particulate Matter Health Effects , Air Quality and Air Toxics , Wildfires
Objective:
Current guidance states that schools should determine whether to close when impacted by wildfire smoke based on whether schools or children’s homes are likely to have better indoor air quality. Most schools and communities, however, do not have reliable information on PM2.5 levels inside and outside of their schools and homes to inform decisions about where children should shelter. This proposal addresses the first research area of this request for applications (RFA) by collecting data to inform the intervention of whether schools should stay open or closed during wildfire air pollution events. The three objectives of the study are to (1) evaluate to what extent indoor PM2.5 levels at schools are affected by wildfire smoke and which school-level factors influence the infiltration of PM2.5 into schools during wildfire events, (2) compare indoor school PM2.5 levels to indoor PM2.5 levels at students’ homes to inform decision-making related to keeping schools open during wildfire events, and evaluate which home-level factors influence the infiltration of PM2.5 into homes, and (3) assess the relationship between PM2.5 levels inside and outside of schools and children’s respiratory health.
Progress Summary:
In the second year of the grant, we were able to continue collecting PM2.5 data from 19 partner schools within Denver Public Schools (DPS) and Adams 12 school districts using Purple Air monitors and additionally, we added outdoor Purple Air sensors at those schools for continuous monitoring. We also maintain 6 Purple Air sensors collocated at two different regulatory monitoring sites (one in an urban area and one just outside of the urban area near some industrial sources) so that we can have better correction equations for our Purple Air monitors. We recruited a total of 191 families who showed interest in being involved in at home sensing at 41 events at our partner schools. Of these families, 62 filled out all of the permission forms (whereas 116 of the 191 started to fill out our forms) and from those, we were able to install monitors in 47 homes where they were for four to six weeks. From these homes, we got daily symptom surveys from 51 students for a total of 1,432 daily symptom reports. We worked with the school districts to obtain the nurse records of asthma medication usage for 18 of our 19 schools (one school’s data was missing due to it not being reported or turned over to the district by the nurse) for the entire 2022-2023 school year. These data are currently being processed. Additionally, we secured additional funding for an undergraduate summer research assistant to help us with colocation experiments aimed at improving our ability to correct indoor and outdoor purple air data using nearby reference monitors. We also secured funding for a second undergraduate research assistant to help with experiments in our schools that will quantify classroom ventilation rates for several different ventilation scenarios. We were able to finish all of the experiments in 16 of our schools in fall 2022, spring 2023, and summer 2023 and are now analyzing that data in the hopes of submitting a publication in spring of 2024. We have begun to analyze our data to address the research objectives.
Future Activities:
In the third year of the grant, we will collect more data from schools and homes that we will aim to analyze to begin publications to answer our objectives. We will also be working on a publication on our two experiments that we started last summer and beginning data analysis and writing on publications that will answer our three main research objectives.
Supplemental Keywords:
fine particulate matter, PM2.5, exposure, health effects, human health, sensitive populations, community-based, wildfire smokeRelevant Websites:
None at this time
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.