Using Low-Cost Air Sensors in Schools Can Inform Decision-Making
Setting up several Purple Air sensors to compare readings. (Photo courtesy of Orly Stampfer)
Measuring air pollution from wildfire smoke at schools and child care settings could help staff make informed decisions that can reduce children’s exposure to smoke. Researchers at the University of Washington partnered with four Washington state schools in areas frequently affected by wildfire smoke to test a process for measuring in-school air pollution.
“Children are especially vulnerable to health impacts from air pollution because they breathe in more air relative to their body weight compared to adults, their lungs are still developing, and they are often very active,” said lead researcher Orly Stampfer, Ph.D., now at the Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH). “Measuring air pollution during wildfire smoke events could help school and child care staff determine whether to adjust activities to help protect children from harmful exposure.”
The research team examined whether and by how much air pollution measurements varied across rooms within the same school, and how indoor air quality compared with outdoor air quality during a wildfire smoke event. Results of the study are published in a May 2024 paper.
Setting up Sensors and Collecting Measurements
Researchers worked with school staff to determine where to place sensors inside the schools. They used Purple Air sensors because they are low cost and easy to install. Staff identified priority areas to measure where students would spend the most time, such as classrooms and the gym. The gym is particularly relevant because doing vigorous physical activity in the event of poor air quality can be particularly risky to children’s health. Staff also identified areas where they expected air quality to vary because of differences in ventilation and air filtration.
The researchers’ findings indicated that air quality readings varied widely across rooms within the same facility. This showed that taking measurements in multiple locations, as would be done with a handheld sensor or multiple sensors throughout a school, gives the clearest picture of children’s risk of exposure to air pollution.
The team also installed one outdoor sensor at each school. Outdoor and indoor data were used to calculate the ratio of indoor to outdoor fine particulate matter concentrations, which is a common method of assessing variability in indoor air quality.
(Left) Setting up air monitors in a classroom. The item on the wall to the top left is a Purple Air sensor. The metal item on the right is an impactor. The plastic box contains an air pump for the impactor. (Right) Outdoor air monitoring set up at a school. The item on the wall to the top right is a Purple Air sensor. The metal dome on the left is a rain shield protecting two impactors. The white plastic box contains air pumps for the impactors. (Photos courtesy of Orly Stampfer)
Since setting up multiple sensors may not be practical for schools due to financial or other reasons, the research team used their data to simulate the use of a handheld sensor that staff could use to take measurements while walking around a school, which would be a likely way school staff would take measurements on their own. Based on their findings, the team recommends that if a school is going to rely on handheld sensors for a general understanding of their indoor air quality, staff should take measurements using handheld sensors multiple times throughout the wildfire smoke event. For decisions about activities happening in the very near future, such as deciding at the last minute whether to have outdoor recess, current handheld sensor data can be useful.
The team also examined how well historical measurement data predicted air quality over the next hour. They compared the average of either 3 hours or 10 minutes of measurement data to air quality over the next hour. Indoors, the average from the 10 minutes before the hour predicted air quality over the next hour better than the 3-hour averages. Outdoors, 10 minute and 3-hour data predicted the next hour similarly. This shows that decisions about air quality indoors are best made with the most recent sensor readings.
“Air quality during wildfire smoke can sometimes be stable, but also can change substantially over a short span of time,” stated Stampfer. “When using sensors to inform decisions about children’s activities, recent, short-term measurements can be really helpful to make decisions about activity location or intensity for activities happening in the next hour.”
Developing a Toolkit for Air Quality Measurement in Schools
The study’s results have already informed guidance from WA DOH on using low-cost sensors to support decision-making during wildfire smoke. While guidance on using low-cost air sensors exists from sources such as the Environmental Protection Agency (see also the July 2024 PEPH mini article on EPA reports on using low-cost sensors), the guidance from WA DOH is specifically tailored to child and youth settings and is meant to be more accessible to school and child care staff.
The team has previously interviewed school staff about their perceptions on using air sensors to make decisions to protect children’s health. Results indicated that schools may have limitations as to what type of sensors they can use, due largely to cost considerations, but also related to the time to use and read the sensors. These perceptions informed the current study, particularly the use of low-cost sensors, and simulation of walkaround measurements.
Stampfer will continue working with the air quality team at WA DOH and plans to use the results of those interviews when developing toolkits for schools and child care settings.
“Our goal is that the toolkit will provide guidance on selecting and using sensors, as well as interpreting sensor measurements to help inform decisions,” added Stampfer. “This supports the overall aim to reduce children’s exposure to poor air quality from wildfire smoke.” Listen to the July 2021 PEPH podcast to learn more about children’s health and wildfire smoke.
Listen to the July 2021 PEPH podcast to learn more about children’s health and wildfire smoke.
Educational Video Explains Environmental Public Health to Students and Community Members
The NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at Oregon State University produced a short video to introduce the field of environmental health to students and community members. The video summarizes the link between human health and the environment and briefly describes how professionals work to understand and reduce human exposure to contaminants and other environmental hazards. The video also gives information on categories of contaminants and hazards and how people can be exposed to them. The center supports community-engaged research to understand what people are exposed to in their homes, workplaces, schools, and communities. The center’s other videos describe in greater detail how scientists study contaminants in the environment and how people can be exposed to them.
New Heat and Health Index Identifies Areas At-Risk for Heat-Related Illness
The Department of Health and Human Services recently released the Heat and Health Index (HHI), an online tool for identifying communities likely to experience negative health effects from heat. The HHI shows data by ZIP code using historical temperature figures, information on heat-related illness, sociodemographic characteristics, and features of the area’s natural and built environment that influence heat-related outcomes. Each ZIP code is assigned one overall HHI ranking, as well as rankings for each factor that influences the HHI. Rankings are shown as percentages. For example, a community with a 92% ranking is more vulnerable to the impacts of heat than 92% of other communities in the country. Users can access the tool to make informed decisions for their communities. For example, public health officials and policymakers will be able to identify areas most at risk for the negative effects of heat. They can then prioritize actions such as increasing tree canopy cover and access to air conditioning.
Use Cases and Toolkits on Sustaining Community Partnerships
The Community Engagement Alliance Consultative Resource (CEACR) has been building a toolkit for community partnerships, which are the backbone of successful community-engaged research. CEACR, supported through the NIH Community Engagement Alliance program, is a vehicle for providing NIH-funded researchers with best practices in community-engaged research approaches to address health disparities and inclusion in research. In a recent case study, CEACR highlighted staff from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine Center for Rural and Community Health who partnered with community-based organizations to address population health and inequities, providing services and conducting research that meets the specific needs of communities. For example, in response to a devastating flood in 2016, the center helped provide disaster relief with a county-wide task force. The center hosted meetings, offered its space, and connected community-based organizations with resources in response to the catastrophe. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the task force mobilized to host vaccine clinics, distribute food donations, and address other disparities caused by the pandemic. The task force’s responsiveness to community needs created a strong foundation of trust and reciprocity with community members, which can support future community-engaged research. Read more about how the center grew and sustained community partnerships and access toolkits from the program on creating trustworthiness and research reciprocity and best practices for community partners compensation.
PEPH Environmental Health Chat Podcast Series
Arsenic in Drinking Water
PEPH Environmental Health Chat Podcast Series
Arsenic in Drinking Water
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that can leech out of rocks and soil into sources of drinking water. Consuming arsenic-contaminated water is linked to health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and skin, lung, bladder, kidney, and liver cancers. In the latest PEPH podcast, Annie Nigra, Ph.D., discusses the health effects of arsenic exposure as well as disparities in arsenic exposure. Nigra also talks about her work with Native American youth to address related environmental health issues in their communities.
PEPH Grantee Highlight
Kevin Lane, Ph.D.
As an assistant professor at Boston University, Kevin Lane, Ph.D., studies the effects of air pollution and the built environment on human health in the U.S. and abroad. His research often entails using geographic information systems and computer modeling to visualize relationships between populations and exposure data. Among his various activities, Lane contributes to the Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health Study, or CAFEH, an NIEHS-funded project he first worked on as a trainee. Over the past few years, he has widened his focus from road traffic to air travel, exploring how aviation contributes to ultrafine particulate pollution. You can read more about the CAFEH project in the July 2021 PEPH newsletter feature.
Funding Opportunites
NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent R13 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports high-quality scientific conferences that are relevant to NIH's mission and to public health. A conference is defined as a symposium, seminar, workshop, or any other organized and formal meeting, whether conducted face-to-face or via the internet, where individuals meet for the primary purpose of exchanging technical information and views or exploring or clarifying a defined subject, problem, or area of knowledge, whether or not a published report results from such meeting. NIH encourages conference grant applicants to enhance diversity by increasing the participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups, in the planning, implementation, and participation in the proposed conference. Eligible organizations include higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, local government (including Indian/Native American Tribal Governments), federal government, and other organizations such as faith-based or community-based organizations.
Deadlines: August 12, 2024; December 12, 2024
PHS 2024-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, and FDA for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44] Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Invites eligible United States small business concerns to submit Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I, Phase II, Direct to Phase II (NIH Only), Fast-Track (NIH only), and Phase IIB (NIH only) grant applications. The SBIR/STTR Program Descriptions and Research Topics for NIH, CDC, and FDA represent scientific program areas that may be of interest to applicant small businesses in the development of projects that have potential for commercialization. SBIR applications that propose clinical trial(s) should be submitted to PA-24-246. Small business applicants interested in submitting an STTR grant application should submit to PA-24-247 or PAR-24-248.
Deadlines: September 5, 2024; January 5, 2025; April 5, 2025
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Innovative Technologies for Research on Climate Change and Human Health
This NOSI encourages grant applications from small business concerns to develop commercializable tools, resources, and approaches to capture the effects of climate change and the associated impacts of extreme weather events on human health, and to support adaptation or mitigation strategies to minimize health hazards and impacts from climate change. Technologies may include new approaches for detecting climate change-associated exposures, including temperature and air quality, training tools on climate change and mitigation strategies for patients with underlying health conditions, intervention approaches for reducing contaminants in water or in indoor air, modeling and prediction tools for climate change-related weather events and related health effects, and technologies for delivery of health care, including mental health services to communities during extreme weather events. This NOSI supports NIEHS’ Climate Change and Health Initiative. Applications are to be submitted through the SBIR (PA-24-245 or PA-24-246) or STTR (PA-24-247 or PAR-24-248) solicitations.
Deadlines: September 5, 2024; January 5, 2025; April 5, 2025
Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) Award (R16 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports research capacity building at institutions that award baccalaureate and/or graduate degrees in biomedical sciences and receive limited NIH Research Project Grant funding. SuRE-supported projects must have student participation in the execution, analysis, and reporting of the research. An applicant institution must demonstrate a commitment to build its research capacity and support for the program director/principal investigator of the award. This funding opportunity requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP) as described in NOT-MH-21-310, submitted as Other Project Information as an attachment (see Section IV). Applications submitted to this funding opportunity for consideration by NIEHS must have a research focus on exposure-health-related responses from environmental agents within the mission interest of NIEHS (e.g., industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, fungal, and bacterial or biologically derived toxins). The Support for Research Excellence – First Independent Research (SuRE-First) Award (R16 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is also open. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support faculty investigators who have not had prior independent external research grants, to furnish students with high-quality undergraduate and/or graduate research experiences and to enhance the institutional scientific research culture.
Deadlines: September 27, 2024; May 28, 2025
Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Supports research on interventions to improve health in Native American populations, including:
- Etiologic research that will directly inform intervention development or adaptations.
- Research that develops, adapts, or tests interventions for health promotion, prevention, treatment, or recovery.
- Where a sufficient body of knowledge on intervention efficacy exists, research on dissemination and implementation that develops and tests strategies to overcome barriers to the adoption, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of effective interventions.
The inclusion of Native American investigators serving on the study team or as the program director or principal investigator is strongly encouraged. This funding opportunity is part of the Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health initiative, which also includes Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R21 Clinical Trials Optional), and Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R34 Clinical Trial Optional). For the R01 and R21 funding mechanisms, NIEHS is interested in applications that focus on the development, adaptation, efficacy, effectiveness, implementation, or sustainability of culturally appropriate interventions to prevent or mitigate the health impacts of environmental exposures that disproportionately impact Native American populations. For the R34 funding mechanism, NIEHS is interested in applications that support the initial development of a culturally appropriate clinical trial or research project in preparation for health promotion or disease prevention interventions addressing the health impacts of environmental exposures that impact Native American populations.
Deadline: October 1, 2024
NOSI: Data Informed, Place-Based Community-Engaged Research to Advance Health Equity
This NOSI is meant to stimulate community-engaged research that leverages geospatial data to probe the influence of geographic factors on disease development and health outcomes. Its goal is to use place-based research to help advance health equity in different communities. Applicants must select the institute or center and associated Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to use for submission of an application in response to the NOSI. NIEHS is interested in applications that integrate place-based environmental data with other data types and sources (such as human behavior and time-activity patterns, environmental data collected by low-cost sensor networks or wearable technologies, biomonitoring data, and other molecular or clinical outcome data) to improve exposure estimates at both the community and individual level, to advance understanding of the effects of environmental exposures on health outcomes, and to inform prevention and intervention strategies. Applicants may apply through PA-20-185 or PA-20-195.
Deadline: October 5, 2024
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
Helps postdoctoral researchers complete needed mentored training and transition to independent tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. The K99/R00 award is intended to foster the development of an independent research program that will be competitive for subsequent independent funding and that will help advance the mission of NIH. Candidates must have no more than four years of postdoctoral research experience at the time of the initial or the subsequent resubmission or revision application. All applications submitted to this NOFO must propose basic science experimental studies involving humans. Prospective studies with humans conducted with specific applications toward processes or products in mind, including Food and Drug Administration Phase 0 or 1 studies, mechanistic clinical trials (e.g., those that examine the mechanisms by which an intervention works or the processes that account for an intervention's effects on clinical outcome), and safety and efficacy studies should submit under NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Required). Observational studies involving humans should submit under NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed).
Deadline: October 12, 2024
Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
Provides support and protected time (3 to 5 years) for an intensive, supervised career development experience in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences leading to research independence. All applications submitted to this funding opportunity must propose basic science experimental studies involving humans, otherwise referred to in NOT-OD-18-212 as “prospective basic science studies involving human participants,” that fall within the NIH definition of a clinical trial and also meet the definition of basic research. Companion funding opportunities are available for mentored research that is not categorized as a basic experimental study. The Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) supports research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial, but applicants may propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor. The Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 - Independent Clinical Trial Required) supports applicants proposing to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or a separate ancillary study to an existing trial.
Deadline: October 12, 2024
Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports small scale research grants at institutions that do not receive substantial funding from NIH, with an emphasis on providing biomedical research experiences primarily for undergraduate students and enhancing the research environment at applicant institutions. The research project must involve undergraduate students, and the research team must be composed primarily of undergraduate students. Student involvement in research may include participating in the design of experiments and controls, collecting and analyzing data, performing and troubleshooting experiments, presenting at meetings, drafting journal articles, participating in lab meetings to discuss results and future experiments, and other activities. NIEHS requires that applications submitted to this funding opportunity have a research focus on exposure-health-related responses from environmental agents within the mission interest of NIEHS (e.g., industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, fungal, and bacterial or biologically derived toxins).
Deadline: October 25, 2024
Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Environmental Health Disparities Centers (P50)
The National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities in partnership with NIEHS and the National Cancer Institute plans to publish the Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Centers funding opportunity in summer 2024. EHD Centers will conduct environmental health disparities and environmental justice research, engage in research capacity building, and provide training across diverse disciplines and backgrounds with a disease agnostic focus. The Centers program will be updated to align with recent executive order (EO 14096) focused on environmental justice. For this renewal the program will focus on the prevention and mitigation of adverse environmental exposures that disproportionately impact racial, ethnic, under resourced and underserved populations. Projects must focus on one or more NIH-designated health disparities populations within the U.S. and its territories, specifically racial and ethnic minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations and with the intersection of persons with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, and persons from rural and/or under resourced areas.
Anticipated Deadline: November 1, 2024
NOSI: Promoting Data Reuse for Health Research
Promotes data reuse and secondary data analysis to drive advancements in biomedical, behavioral, clinical, or health-related research. For this NOSI, applications must:
- Focus on advancing scientific inquiry and addressing pivotal health research questions via data reuse or secondary data analysis.
- Include data from at least one publicly accessible, NIH-funded data repository or knowledgebase.
- Describe how results and best practices for data reuse are to be shared with NIH and the broader community.
Deadline: November 4, 2024
Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program
EPA is accepting applications for its Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program. The program provides Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. The entities eligible to apply under this opportunity are:
- A partnership between two community-based nonprofit organizations.
- A partnership between a community-based nonprofit organization and one of the following:
- A federally recognized tribe.
- A local government.
- An institution of higher education.
Other organizations and entities may be able to participate and be involved in the Community Change Grants projects as collaborating subrecipients and/or procurement contractors selected in compliance with competition requirements. EPA is accepting applications on a rolling basis; therefore, interested applicants are encouraged to apply early. To apply for this opportunity, see the announcement on Grants.gov.
Deadline: November 21, 2024
PEPH-Related News
Upcoming PEPH-related Events
National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Meeting (virtual). Speakers will cover several topics, such as committee updates, recommendations for council consideration, an EPA EJScreen update, and new EPA drinking water regulations. In conjunction with this meeting, members of the public are invited to submit comments on the council’s Title VI charge, which, among other issues, focuses on how EPA can improve opportunities for stakeholder engagement in the civil rights complaint process and how EPA can enhance its civil rights-related technical assistance, training, and education efforts. The deadline for comment submission is August 22, 2024. Registration for the public meeting is available.
NIH Community Engagement Alliance Consultative Resource Webinar: Moving From Action to Knowledge - Using Research to Change Policy and Practice. Participants in this webinar will learn how to use research findings to create social change. NIH will also host office hours to further support webinar participants in understanding and applying webinar content. The session is part of a series designed to support community organizations in preparing research applications and implementing research studies. Registration for the webinar is available.
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health: Environmental Justice and Environmental Health Disparities (Boston, Massachusetts and virtual). This intensive workshop will cover exposure assessment techniques and community engagement and health policy applications in support of solution-driven environmental justice research. The focus of this workshop is to provide training in environmental justice research to environmental health scientists. It will include lectures and hands-on learning experiences. Registration for the Environmental Justice workshop is available. This workshop is part of a series, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health: Skills for Health and Research Professionals Program, designed for health and research professionals at all career stages and focuses on providing practical skills.
EPA Research Webinar Series: Air Pollution Impacts on Reproductive and Mental Health (webinar). This webinar is part of the EPA’s series about air, climate, and energy research. Presenters will talk about their research on air quality, the impacts of air pollution and climate change, environmental justice, responses to impacts of climate change, and other pollution-related risks to the environment. Registration for this webinar is now open.
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology Annual Meeting: Addressing Challenges in Environmental Health, Justice, and Development (Santiago, Chile). Topics will include air pollution, the built environment, climate, exposures and exposure assessment methods, policy, and water pollution. Registration for the annual meeting is now open.
International Society of Exposure Science Annual Meeting: Exposures that Impact Health in Vulnerable Populations (Montreal, Quebec). Participants will hear about research in exposure science, epidemiology, toxicology, and risk assessments. The meeting will bring together participants from academia, government, and nonprofit organizations. Registration for the annual meeting is available.
American Public Health Association (APHA) 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo (Minneapolis, Minnesota). The theme of the annual APHA meeting is Building Trust in Public Health and Science. The meeting will include a session on report-back as well as poster sessions and opportunities for networking. Registration for the APHA meeting and expo is open.
