by Carisa A.
In the city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, many adults and children alike suffer from the air pollution caused by the annual smoke season. From February to April, farmers slash and burn their fields in order to plant crops for the next growing season. In addition, natural forest fires are likely to occur as the dry season makes it easy for wilted leaves to catch fire. As a result, the Air Quality Index (AQI) can reach up to levels of 500, causing increasing discomfort as immense concentrations of CO2 fills the air. During this period, it is a common occurrence for schools to perform emergency evacuations when the air quality reaches hazardous quantities. Because of this problem, parents, students, and teachers must be aware of how prolonged CO2 exposure could affect their children’s health in the long term.
AirGradient is monitoring the air quality in an international school in Chiang Mai. The levels of CO2 and PM2.5 in the school’s 30 classrooms are constantly monitored and examined using its sensor network. PM2.5 are fine particles originating from smoke that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers and can pose significant health risks. The network indicates that the levels of PM2.5 in most of the school’s learning spaces have been reduced to a healthy level due to their considerable use of HEPA-based air purifiers. However, the school realized that some of the classrooms have elevated CO2 levels that could significantly impact the student’s cognitive performance and test scores.
Read the full article: https://www.airgradient.com/resources/we-measured-the-co2-level-in-a-classrooms-this-is-what-we-found-out/