Green Daily

School days, school days. For thirty percent of American public school students, going back to school means going back to "air pollution danger zones." Lovely.

One in three U.S. public schools are in "air pollution danger zones," within a quarter mile of a major highway, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati. Prior research has shown that proximity to major highways increases exposure to pollutants including particulate matter, leaving students more susceptible to respiratory diseases such as asthma later in life.

According to the principal investigator, Sergey Grinshpun, new schools should be built further from major highways. And what about existing schools, barring moving them which is probably not going to happen? Those schools should be retrofitted with air filtration systems.

Past studies have focused on homes located near major roads, but Grinshpun notes that schools are important to look at also, since children spend so much of their day on school grounds.

For more about school air quality, see the EPA's Tools for Schools page here.