In this paper, we conducted a survey to reveal the general perception of parents toward outdoor air quality, particulate matter (PM), and indoor air quality (IAQ) at schools where their children attend. A total of 1,030 parents participated in this survey, where the age of their children ranged between 7 years to over 19 years of age. Each participant was either a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) with a keen interest in air quality or an ordinary public panel member with less interest. The result of the survey indicated that the participants had a negative perception of air quality, and parents believed that the outdoor and indoor air is extremely polluted. The participants pointed out that they believe that the main reason for the pollution is due to particulate matter (PM) and school classrooms are the location where their children are exposed to PM the most. Based on our study, the majority of the participants prefer a mechanical ventilation system to reduce indoor air pollutants in schools. Our study should be referred to by school officials in order to maintain IAQ and as a way of addressing the concerns of parents who want to protect their children’s health.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of shoe dust on the indoor environment, and the effectiveness of shoe dust control on indoor air quality. Test dust was resuspended to reach a mass concentration of particles (2.5-10 μm size) more than 3 times compared to background level, and 1.5 times for particles less than 1 μm in size. The shoes, which were used for actual walking purposes in the outdoor environment, increased indoor PM10 concentration by 118±9%. The removal of shoe dust by water washing and mechanical suction brought about an improvement of indoor air quality. In particular, in circumstances where 27 people walked for one hour into the indoor environment, the mechanical suction of shoe dust decreased PM10 concentration by about 17% (based on the mass balance analysis).

Indoor air quality can be affected by indoor sources, ventilation, decay and outdoor levels. Although technologies exist to measure these factors, direct measurements are often difficult. Toluene and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations of residential indoor and outdoor were simultaneously measured and compared in 16 houses, using passive samplers during every 3 days for 60 days. Concentrations of toluene and NO₂ were analyzed by gas chromatography and spectrophotometer, respectively. Using a mass balance model, penetration factor (ventilation rate divided by sum of ventilation rate and deposition constant) and source generation factor (source generation rate divided by sum of ventilation rate and deposition constant) were calculated by multiple indoor and outdoor measurements. The mean contributions of toluene of indoor and outdoor sources on residential indoor air quality were estimated to be 31.01% and 67.00%, respectively. On the other hand, mean contributions of NO₂ were 58.93% and 41.06%, respectively. These results could be explained that contributions of indoor and outdoor air pollutants sources are different to residential indoor air concentrations. In conclusion, contributions of outdoor air and indoor sources affecting indoor air quality were effectively characterized using multiple indoor and outdoor measurements.

This paper aims to describe the indoor-outdoor air quality in school environment through the analyses of heavy metal concentration by Inductively Coupled Plasma(ICP), which were observed at some school environment, such as traffic area, industrial area, seme-industrial area, and residence area. The results are as follows ; (1) Regardless indoor and outdoor, the area with the highest concentration of heavy metal is industrial area followed by traffic area, residence area and semi-industrial area in descending order of magnitude. And the heavy metal concentration of indoor is higher than that of outdoor. (2) The main heavy metal components with more high level concentration of indoor than those of outdoor are Zn, Al, Ca and these heavy metal concentrations are higher in class than in corridor and outdoor.