Teachers Guide to Indoor Air Quality Dear Teacher: The National Safety Council’s Environmental Health Center (NSC’s EHC) and the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency (EPA) would like to thank you for taking the time to use this guide to reach out to your students and teach them the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ). This guide has been developed in cooperation with EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit. If your school is currently using IAQ Tools for Schools, this guide is an excellent companion tool. For those who don’t know about this easy-to-use “Kit,” it shows school administrators and other school personnel how to help ensure that your school’s environment is healthy by doing simple activities to reduce the possi- bility of serious indoor air quality problems. You do not have to use IAQ Tools for Schools Kit to benefit from this guide. However, if you would like to order a IAQ Tools for Schools Kit, please refer to the Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse in the “Supporting Materials” at the back of the guide. page 1 National Safety Council’s Environmental Health Center Teachers Guide to Indoor Air Quality Good and Bad News for Everyone! The bad news about indoor air is that it often contains higher concentrations of hazardous pollut- ants than outdoor air. The good news is that everyone can reduce indoor air pollution. How can the air inside our homes be so bad for us? Over the years, buildings have been made more airtight to conserve energy. A variety of methods have been used to keep the hot/cool air from escaping our homes: installing storm windows, adding insulation, and applying caulking and weatherstripping to seal cracks and other openings. Unfortunately, when we trap in hot or cool air, we also trap in pollutants and sometimes generate more. EPA studies have found that pollut- ant levels inside can be two to five times higher than outdoors. After some activities, indoor air pollution levels can be 100 times higher than outdoors. On average, people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. Sixty-five percent of that time is spent at home. To make matters worse, those who are most susceptible to indoor air pollution are the ones who are home the most: infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses. In addition, children breathe in 50 percent more air per pound of body weight than adults do. How do you know if the air inside your home is dangerous to your health? Many indoor air pollutants cannot be detected by our senses. The symptoms they produce can be vague and sometimes similar, making it hard to attribute the symptoms to a specific cause. Some symptoms may not show up until years later, making it even harder to discover the cause. Common symp- toms of exposure to indoor air pollutants include headaches, tiredness, dizziness, nausea, itchy nose, and scratchy throat. These symptoms may be mistaken for flu symptoms. More serious effects are asthma, other breathing disorders, and cancer. Sources of pollutants can be found throughout the home and include cleaning products, paints, fertilizers, and pesticides. Less obvious pollutants are caused by such simple tasks as cooking, bathing, or heating the home. Fortunately, everyone can take some easy steps to reduce the potential for indoor air pollution and improve the quality of the air they breathe. EHC believes that if young people are informed about the hazards of indoor air pollution and ways to avoid or correct problems, they can help reduce environmental health risks for themselves and their families. Students should be encouraged to bring home to their parents what they learned in the classroom. EHC has developed this guide for teachers to help students under- stand the importance of clean air and what they can do to help clean the air they breathe. If you would like additional information on indoor air quality or need to speak to an environmental health specialist, please call the EHC’s Air Quality Program Helpline at (800) 557-2366. National Safety Council’s Environmental Health Center page 2 Teachers Guide to Indoor Air Quality Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................................5 Major Program Objectives...........................................................................................................5 Section 1: Preparation .............................................................................................................6 Section 2: Preliminary Knowledge & Follow-up ....................................................................7 Indoor Air Quality True or False Worksheet ................................................................................. 8 Indoor Air Quality True or False Answers .....................................................................................9 Section 3: Vocabulary ............................................................................................................10 Indoor Air Quality Word Find......................................................................................................15 Indoor Air Quality Word Find Answers .......................................................................................16 Indoor Air Quality Word Scramble .............................................................................................17 Indoor Air Quality Word Scramble Answers ...............................................................................18 Section 4: Major Indoor Pollutants .......................................................................................21 Matching Game.........................................................................................................................23 Matching Game Answers .......................................................................................................... 24 Section 5: Room-by-Room ....................................................................................................25 Case Studies on Indoor Air Quality Problems ............................................................................44 Case Study Dilemmas ..............................................................................................................45 Case Study Dilemma Solutions .................................................................................................46 Radon Maze .............................................................................................................................48 Radon Maze Answer Key .......................................................................................................... 49 Section 6: How Pollutants Affect the Body ..........................................................................50 Your Body..................................................................................................................................51 Body Parts Diagram .................................................................................................................52 Body Parts Diagram Answer .....................................................................................................53 Health Effects Case Study .........................................................................................................54 Health Effects Case Study Symptoms .......................................................................................55 Health Effects Case Study Answers ..........................................................................................56 National Safety Council’s Environmental Health Center page 3 Teachers Guide to Indoor Air Quality Section 7: The Air We Breathe ..............................................................................................57 Importance of Detecting the Invisible .........................................................................................61 Importance of Detecting the Invisible Worksheet ........................................................................63 Draw the Hidden Object After Each Observation .......................................................................64 Find the Odor ............................................................................................................................65 Find the Odor Worksheet ..........................................................................................................67 Indoor Air Quality Survey ...........................................................................................................68 Indoor Air Quality Survey Sheet .................................................................................................70 Tally Sheet and Bar Graph .........................................................................................................71 Section 8: Air Quality in Schools...........................................................................................72 How Safe Is Your Classroom? ...................................................................................................75 Classroom Air Quality Checklist ................................................................................................78 Section 9: Fact Sheets ...........................................................................................................81 Alternatives to Household Chemicals ........................................................................................81 Asbestos