Best Practices
- Best Practices and indoor air problems
- School building materials and practices
- Health problems
- Pest management and control
- Preventive management options
- Other links/Resources
- New- Anti-idling signs
Best Practices and indoor air problems
The best practices section provides school administrators, nurses, maintenance and custodial staff with the tools to use when planning for renovations, preventative maintenance, pest management and control, monitoring drinking water, and other building activities. The practices may reduce the potential scope of possible problems identified by the Legislature under Act 125:
- There is significant evidence that hazardous chemical exposure and poor indoor air quality can negatively affect human health and productivity.
- Problems related to hazardous chemical exposure, ranging from complaints of minor illness to death, are documented in medical, institutional and governmental studies.
- Children are particularly susceptible to adverse health effects from hazardous chemical exposure and poor indoor air quality, as their bodies are undergoing rapid growth and development, their immune systems are not fully functional and they are likely to be in contact with materials not encountered by adults.
- A school environment in which hazardous exposures are reduced and an adequate supply of fresh or filtered air is provided reduces viruses and allergens, increases the likelihood that school students and staff will be more alert and productive and may reduce risk of litigation.
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Problems involving potentially hazardous chemical exposure and poor indoor air quality are associated with increased use of manufactured construction materials, energy conservation measures that have sealed school buildings more tightly, inadequate air exchange that fails to eliminate pollutants from inside school buildings, and moisture problems that cause biological growth inside school buildings.
School building materials and practices
Here are links to information on materials and practices in common use in school operations and construction that may compromise indoor air quality or negatively impact human health:
- EPA’s Tools for Schools’ Typical Sources of Indoor Air Pollutants
- A Fact Sheet on Air Quality in Schools
- An Air Quality Fact Sheet on School Renovation
- An Air Quality Fact Sheet on Carpet
- A Fact Sheet on Formaldehyde
- A Fact Sheet on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
- Pesticides: GAO’s report on Use, Effects, and Alternatives to
Pesticides in Schools - Vermont’s School Science Lab Chemical and Mercury Cleanout Project
- Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) Resources
- Choosing the right flooring material:
Health problems
Here are links to information on potential health problems associated with common building materials and substances, with specific reference to children’s vulnerability:
- Fact Sheets (see above)—Carpet, Formaldehyde, Mold, Particulates, Volatile Organic Compounds
- Pesticides: GAO’s report on Use, Effects, and Alternatives to
Pesticides in Schools - National PTA Leader’s Guide to Environmental Issues
- Vermont Department of Health Asthma Program
- EPA’s section on mold and moisture as Asthma Triggers
- American Lung Association’s section on Air Quality in the Schools
- National Center for Environmental Health’s Questions and Answers on Stachybotrys Chartarum and Other Molds
- New York City Department of Health’s Guidelines on Assessment and Remediation of Fungi in Indoor Environments
See also
- Bioaerosols: Assessment and Control: "A comprehensive guide to the assessment and control of bioaerosols in the full range of contemporary workplaces" (Janet Macher, Editor; 526 pages), available from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.
- Handbook of Pediatric Environmental Health: "The only comprehensive guide to the identification, prevention, and treatment of pediatric environmental health problems" (420 pages), available from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Additional helpful information, guidance and checklists, with some specific references to mold, can be found in the IAQ Coordinator’s Guide, Mold and Moisture, as well as in the IAQ Tools for Schools document.
Pest management and control
Here are links to information on integrated pest management and alternatives to chemical pest control:
- EPA’s how-to manual on Integrated Pest Management for Schools
- EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs
- Wisconsin’s School Integrated Pest Management Manual
- UVM Integrated Pest Management for Schools
- Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) Resources
Preventive management options
The following are links to the EPA’s website on preventive management options for commercial buildings:
- What Building Facility Managers Can Do to Promote Good Indoor Air Quality
- Things Everyone in the Building Can Do
- What the Office Manager/Tenant Can Do
- To read the entire EPA document: An Office Building Occupant’s Guide to Indoor Air Quality
Other links/Resources
- Indoor air quality resource guide
- Safe water resource guide
- Asbestos in Schools
- Lead in Schools
- Mold and moisture prevention
- School design and air quality
- Playground equipment and pressure treated wood
- List of school environmental health resources (pdf)
- Individual schools/districts/unions may purchase (<25 signs: $16.73/ea) additional anti-idling signs, through Vermont Correctional Industries, by contacting Jay Whitcomb at (866)-729-8715.