The Legault government and the Ministry of Education say they “follow the recommendations of experts” for air quality in schools. But the 1500 ppm CO standard2 adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools has not been endorsed by the expert advisory committee. The latter instead recommended a maximum threshold of 1000 ppm, learned The Press.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
To justify its standard of 1,500 parts per million (ppm) in order to do work in the classroom, the Ministry of Education says it bases itself in particular on a study by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) and on a standard of a worldwide association of building services engineers (the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, or CIBSE). However, the CIBSE recommends a standard of 800 ppm during a pandemic. And the INSPQ study indicates that 1000 ppm is the main standard around the world to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
This distinction between 1000 and 1500 ppm is important in practice: 18.5% of classes in Quebec schools had an average concentration between 1000 and 1500 ppm during the week of April 25, compared to 23.2% a month earlier, according to the most recent data made public by the Quebec Ministry of Education. In comparison, 2.4% of classes in Quebec had a concentration above 1500 ppm.
Quebec’s Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, declined our interview request.
“We are following the recommendations of the experts,” said Minister Roberge’s office by email. The ministry, in its guide, aims that the average daily concentration of CO2 remains below 1000 ppm, but considers an average concentration below 1500 ppm to indicate good ventilation. […] We will have invested nearly half a billion in work affecting air quality. […] More than 96% of classes have a CO rate2 less than 1500ppm. According to our experts, this is good news. »
The committee recommended 1000 ppm
Two members, who do not work for the government, of the committee of six experts confirmed that the committee had recommended a maximum standard of 1000 ppm of CO2.
“1000 ppm or less is the recommendation we gave. […] That’s the goal,” says Ali Bahloul, prevention researcher at the Robert-Sauvé Research Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (IRSST) and member of the committee.
“I don’t tear my shirt [pour 1500 ppm]. But the standard to reach, what we should aim for, is 1000 ppm,” says the Dr Stéphane Perron, physician specializing in public health at the INSPQ and member of the committee.
The Ministère de l’Éducation considers that it has followed the recommendations of the committee of experts by adopting a “target” of 1000 ppm.
From 1000 to 1500 ppm, the Ministry of Education asks schools to open windows and doors. If there is a ventilation system, schools should also check this system. But between 1000 and 1500 ppm, Quebec does not ask schools to report these problems to it in order to carry out work or install an air exchanger provided by Quebec.
Since the start of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education has delivered 1,132 air exchangers to schools, including approximately 650 since February 2022. An air exchanger costs approximately $2,000.
Has Public Health approved the 1500 ppm?
Has the Direction nationale de santé publique du Québec approved the Ministry of Education’s 1500 ppm standard in schools?
“Yes, through the committee [consultatif] “, indicates by email the Ministry of Education.
Public Health does not hold exactly the same discourse. “The National Directorate of Public Health has not set thresholds [de CO2] in schools, says the Ministry of Health by email.
According to the Department of Health, Public Health only recommended meeting the “hourly air change requirements” specified in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The Acting National Director of Public Health of Quebec, Dr.r Luc Boileau, did not respond to the interview request of The Press.
The INSPQ study and the CIBSE standard
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a concentration of CO2 less than 800ppm. In France, Public Health and the Ministry of Education also require less than 800 ppm. Germany recommends less than 1000 ppm, as does the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Quebec has instead chosen the standard of 1500 ppm beyond which work is being undertaken to improve air quality in schools. Great Britain also uses this standard.
To choose 1500 ppm, the Quebec Ministry of Education indicates that it based itself on a study by the INSPQ, a German standard and the international standard of the CIBSE. According to Quebec, the last two standards “indicate that 1500 ppm is the threshold above which one can conclude that there is insufficient ventilation of the premises”.
According to the INSPQ study, the CIBSE estimates that more than 1500 ppm correspond in normal times to “insufficient ventilation of the premises”. But in times of pandemic, the CIBSE recommends a threshold of CO2 less than 800 ppm, notes the INSPQ.
In its study published in June 2021, the INSPQ reviews the different CO standards2 to prevent the airborne spread of COVID-19. The INSPQ does not recommend a maximum threshold, but notes that the vast majority of standards are between 1000 and 1200 ppm. “Most standards are at 1000 ppm”, confirms the Dr Stephane Perron, of the INSPQ.
The Dr Perron and researcher Ali Bahloul want to clarify that the role of the advisory committee is to recommend a maximum threshold, and not to decide at what rate work on air quality should be done in schools. ” Management [du parc immobilier]it’s under the Department of Education,” says Dr.r Peron. “We know that there are aging schools. It is up to the Minister of Education to look at maintenance priorities. »
With a limited budget, the Dr Perron is of the opinion that the Ministry of Education “has the correct approach” by prioritizing classes with a threshold above 2000 ppm, then those with a threshold between 1500 and 2000 ppm.
He also argues that Quebec is “very transparent” in publishing CO data.2 in schools. “Elsewhere in the world, we do not see that, says the Dr Peron. In the United States and Germany, the classes are far from reaching the standards [de 1000 ppm]. »
The Department of Education says it respects expert advice because its “target” is 1000 ppm. “The thresholds of 1500 and 2000 do not constitute an end in themselves, but scales allowing us to prioritize our actions. The ministry is aligned with the committee [consultatif] “, he says by email.
On February 23, when he first unveiled the results of the CO sensors2the Department of Education only mentioned the 1500 ppm standard in its press release.
“Ventilation is always a good idea”
According to the INSPQ, COVID-19 is transmitted by nearby droplets and also by air. But at school, “most of the transmission is close” by droplets, says the Dr Stephane Perron, of the INSPQ. “The mask is more important than ventilation” as a health measure, he illustrates. For example, a student is probably more at risk of catching COVID-19 in a class at 900 ppm without other sanitary measures than in a room at 1300 ppm with sanitary measures (wearing a mask, no students in class with symptoms). The Dr Perron believes that air quality and ventilation are “important complementary” solutions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at school. “Ventilation is always a good idea,” he says.
A threshold that “hides reality”
The objective of the Ministry of Education for the next school year: that 100% of classes meet the standard of 1500 ppm of CO2, he says by email. Quebec does not give itself a quantified objective on its “target” of 1000 ppm for the next school year.
The two main unions in the field of education, the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ; 125,000 members in education) and the Independent Federation of Education (FAE; 50,000 members), are asking Quebec to lower the standard 1500 to 1000 ppm for work on air quality in classrooms.
The FAE is taking Quebec to court, among other things, to lower the standard to 1,000 ppm. “The government is making the necessary corrections to classrooms by prioritizing urgent situations,” writes Quebec in a court document aimed at dismissing the lawsuit.
By setting its standard at 1500 ppm, Quebec has sought to camouflage the reality. It allowed him to believe that the rates were not that problematic. [La norme de 1500 ppm] is not based on science, it is a political gesture aimed at preserving the image of the minister and of the government.
Sylvain Malette, President of the Autonomous Federation of Education
“We have to solve the problem, and we are still looking for the plan [de Québec], says Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ. What are we doing in the schools so as not to go back to opening the windows for 15 minutes at the break next winter? It doesn’t make sense. »
Professor Maximilien Debia, an expert in environmental health and hygiene in the workplace, thinks that Quebec should take inspiration from France and set its limit at 800 ppm. Indeed, “1500 ppm is a level [de concentration] Very important. With COVID-19, the trend has been to decrease from 1200-1000 ppm down to 800 ppm, not increase to 1500 ppm,” says Debia, a professor at the University’s School of Public Health. from Montreal.
The opposition parties in the National Assembly also believe that the standard of 1500 ppm in the classrooms is too high. The Quebec Liberal Party has tabled a bill to reduce the maximum threshold to 700 ppm in schools during a pandemic (and to 1000 ppm outside of a pandemic).