Up to 2,000 schools are being sought for what is expected to be the “biggest study of air quality in schools anywhere in the world”.
The Schools’ Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education project, or SAMHE, will provide schools with free air quality monitors to measure carbon dioxide (CO2), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), particulate matter (PM), temperature and relative humidity.
The programme is being run by the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York, Imperial College London, and the University of Cambridge. The Department for Education wrote to schools today to encourage them to take part.
It follows calls from the chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty for schools, offices, supermarkets and hospitals to be monitored for indoor air pollutants, prompted by fears about harms caused by dirty air.
