Is there a link between high absenteeism rates in schools and the fact that the air quality there is not “ideal”? Common sense suggests yes, as respiratory viruses are devastating children, driving them away from classrooms in unprecedented proportions at this time of year, and as the latest data released by the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, offer an imperfect portrait of air quality in schools.
It had become an embarrassing file for the former Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge, and the fact that Minister Drainville made it his priority issue is not insignificant. This sends a strong and reassuring signal, which the population can hope to see as a guarantee of real change, within the limits of the possible. In a press briefing on Friday, Mr. Drainville revealed the most recent portrait of the level of CO2 detected in Quebec classrooms. The balance is improving, with only 1% of the 68,500 classes in Quebec showing concentrations of CO2 above the standard of 1500 parts per million (ppm), the standard deemed “adequate” by Quebec.
It is true that significant efforts have been made by the Ministry of Education to try to improve a dismal record, brought up for debate at the start of the pandemic thanks to public health measures advocating impeccable indoor air quality. in order to avoid the transmission of a respiratory virus as contagious as the one that causes COVID-19. Due to a dilapidated and difficult to renovate building stock, the Ministry of Education quickly found itself in the hot seat, with CO2 higher than expected averages.
But what is this ideal average? Using a transparency that we can only welcome, the Minister of Education agreed on Friday that there was a gap of 500 ppm between an “adequate” rate – 1500 ppm, the standard used by Quebec – and a rate “ideal” — 1000 ppm, the threshold below which experts can guarantee less concentration problems, headaches, drowsiness, vulnerability to respiratory viruses and absenteeism.
Aiming for the bullseye, a journalist asked: “Remind us, Mr. Drainville, why if it is 1000 ppm the ideal one uses 1500? Because Public Health says it’s the right standard, replied Mr. Drainville, not hiding his hope that one day all schools in Quebec will be able to display the perfect standard, rather than being satisfied with a minimum. .
It has become a detestable habit, we must say. How not to make the link with another of the “hot” public health issues of the past year, that of the Horne Foundry? The company, which releases a maximum of 100 nanograms (ng) of arsenic per cubic meter (m3) of air per year has been recommended as a maximum of 15 ng/m3 to be achieved within… 5 years, while the ideal standard to avoid major health problems for children, babies and pregnant women is 3 ng/m3. Here again, Public Health voted to stop the quality barometer at the appropriate level, no longer even pretending to run for the ideal. It’s heartbreaking, because people’s health is at stake.
And the impact on the health of schoolchildren is not theoretical, far from it, as evidenced by the overcrowding of pediatric hospitals, adjoining a state of crisis that the competent authorities claim not to have seen, even at the height of the pandemic, with this young clientele. Last week, data from the Ministry of Education revealed that nearly 13% of preschool, primary and secondary students were absent from their classes. The significant circulation of influenza A, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 largely explains this worrying phenomenon, especially with the approach of the holiday season, generally associated with family bathing favorable to the exchange of viruses.
What happens next will first require an overdose of transparency. If the ideal standard is 1000 ppm CO2 in classes, so during the month of October, between 15 and 22% of the approximately 70,000 classes analyzed exceeded this rate. The figures show that the situation has improved compared to last January, when this average hovered around 38%, a sign that the efforts of the ministry — installation of air exchangers, window changes — have carried their fruits.
But it’s not a foregone conclusion, considering that the measurements were taken in October, an exceptionally hot month with peaks over 20°C for half the month. This assumes that classroom windows have been opened wide, and so this cheering picture may not be an indicator of what data takings will look like in the depths of winter. Are we treading water on this crucial issue, which targets children’s health? If the situation remains so critical, it may be necessary to resort again to wearing a mask in class, failing to be able to renovate the schools in a jiffy.