Health Assessment and Indoor Environmental Quality in Multiple Romanian Rural Schools

Abstract

The current study was realized in three schools located in regional Romania. The results of this article draw upon the diversity of school’s typologies analyzed: new, existing refurbished and old. The analysis was carried using answers given by 138 children to a survey that covered questions related to their learning environment and health problems. Children were asked to rank the perceived quality of several indoor environment parameters (IAQ, outdoor air quality, illumination, noise), the stressful and friendly nature of the schools, and their overall satisfaction. The survey was accompanied by experimental measurements of air temperature, humidity, noise and illuminance levels, CO2 concentration and dust particles. The most prevalent symptoms experienced at school were sneezes (34.1%), fatigue (18.9%), runny nose (14.5%), stuffed/blocked nose (11.6%), and headache (8.7%). Out of the five main health symptoms reported at school, the majority has been recorded in the renovated school.