Indoor air quality in a middle school, Part II: Development of emission factors for particulate matter and bioaerosols

A middle school (grades 6 to 8) in a residential section of Springfield, Illinois, with no known air quality problems, was selected for a baseline indoor air quality survey. The study was designed to measure and evaluate air quality at the middle school with the objective of providing a benchmark for comparisons with measurements in schools with potential air quality problems. The focus of this article is on the development of emission factors for particulate matter and bioaerosols. The school was characterized as having no health complaints and good maintenance schedules. Four indoor locations including the cafeteria, a science classroom, an art classroom, the lobby outside the main office, and one outdoor location were sampled for various environmental comfort and pollutant parameters for one week in February 1997. Integrated samples (eight-hour sampling time) for respirable and total particulate matter, and short-term measurements (two-minute samples, three times per day) for bioaerosols were collected on three consecutive days at each of the sampling sites. Continuous measurements of carbon dioxide were logged at all locations for five days. Continuous measurements of respirable particulate matter were also collected in the lobby area. A linear relationship between occupancy and corresponding carbon dioxide and particle concentrations was seen. A completely mixed space, one compartment mass balance model with estimated CO2 generation rates and actual CO2 and particulate matter concentrations was used to model ventilation and pollutant emission rates. Emission factors for occupancy were represented by the slope of emission rate versus occupancy scatter plots. The following particle and bioaerosol emission factors were derived from the indoor measurements: total particles: 1.28 mg/hr/person-hr; respirable particles: 0.154 g/hr/person-hr; total fungi: 167 CFU/hr/person-min; thermophilic fungi: 35.8 CFU/hr/person-min; mesophilic fungi: 119 CFU/hr/person-min; total bacteria: 227 CFU/hr/person-min; gram-negative bacteria: 69.5 CFU/hr/person-min; gram-positive bacteria: 191 CFU/hr/person-min; Aspergillus: 17.0 CFU/hr/person-min; Penicillium: 161 CFU/hr/person-min; and yeasts: 16.4 CFU/hr/person-min.