Air Quality
![istockphoto-961826946-612x612 Carbon dioxide emissions control concept. 3d rendering of co2 cloud on fresh spring meadow with blue sky in background.](http://www.etsb.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-961826946-612x612.jpeg)
Air Quality INFO
Recently, the Ministry of Education has acquired carbon dioxide (CO2) readers with the objective of installing them in all Quebec classrooms, to ensure a rigorous monitoring of indoor air quality.
This week, the Ministry published the first statistics related to CO2 levels registered by the carbon dioxide detectors installed thus far in all School Service Centres (SSC) and School Boards (SB). 95% of premises with a detector registered a weekly average CO2 concentration below 1,500 ppm, a sign of good air quality.
- A link to the findings published by the government (in French):
https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/education/publications-adm/education/qualite-air-dioxyde.pdf - It is normal for the CO2 concentration in a place like a classroom to vary during the course of a day, which is why the measurements are averages.
- The installation of CO2 detectors in classrooms allows school personnel to make more appropriate – either rapid or gradual – interventions, such as opening windows or doors more or less widely or for more or less time, in order to improve the air quality and to avoid high concentrations. A balance must be struck between a good temperature and a good CO2
- Bear in mind that the acceptable threshold for CO2 was set at 1,500 ppm by a committee of experts established by the Quebec government, which specifies that the ideal concentration is 1,000 ppm. This is a threshold related to comfort. It is important to note that classes with higher concentrations are not dangerous for the health of their occupants. As a reminder, the standard from the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité au travail (RSST) recommends an average exposure of less than 5,000 ppm over an 8-hour workday.
Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB)
- Upon receipt of the carbon dioxide (CO2) readers, the Eastern Townships School Board has put together a team dedicated to the installation and calibration of these CO2 As of February 24th 2022, the installation has been completed in 25 of our schools/centers out of a total of 26.
- The data collected from CO2 detectors is collected centrally by the Ministère de l’Éducation, which determines the averages. So far, 12 of ETSB schools (277 classrooms) are connected and transmit the data to the central. The School Board does not have direct access to this information but is committed to share the data with parents and staff as soon as it is provided to us by the Ministry.
CO2 Table for the Eastern Townships School Board
Data collected from the CO2 readers, on the week of February 14th, 2022.
Number of schools involved: 12
Number of classrooms involved: 277
![FRE Table FRE Table](http://www.etsb.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/FRE-Table.png)
- Based on data so far, 100 % of ETSB classrooms registered a weekly average of CO2 concentration below 1 500 ppm, a sign of good air quality.
- We will be monitoring the data from our schools closely. If any issues are detected, i.e. daily average concentrations consistently exceeding the recommended 1,500 ppm threshold for an extended period of time, corrective action will be taken.
- With respect to the pandemic in general, the school board maintains all sanitary measures as dictated by public health to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all students and staff: wearing masks, disinfection, distancing, etc.