The hot new back-to-school accessory: an indoor air quality monitor.

By Nation World News Desk

Some parents are sending their children back-to-school with air quality monitors to measure indoor ventilation to determine how safe their schools are from COVID-19.   

These indoor air monitors measure CO2 levels as there is not a device to measure for COVID-19 virus. "In the absence of such a device, CO2 is something that provides an economical and very worthwhile shortcut,” explains Jose-Luis Jiménez, an aerosol scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Every time we exhale, we exhale not only aerosols but also carbon dioxide. The worse the ventilation, the more carbon dioxide builds up in an occupied room. “If we see CO2 rising, it also means that aerosol concentrations are increasing. Even just bringing the sensor in for a day or two can give you a really interesting and useful window into the world of ventilation of that space," said Dr. Alex Huffman, an aerosol scientist at University of Denver.

"Although instruments, which can be set to take readings every few minutes, work best when exposed to open air, they can generate informative data unless they are completely sealed," adds Huffman. He recommends leaving the pockets of backpacks or pants unzipped, or putting the monitor in the mesh water bottle pouch that is now standard on many backpacks.

Good ventilation can be critical in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in a classroom, even if all students are masked. Read More

Source: Nation World News