U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko held a roundtable conversation about air quality in school buildings on Wednesday at Giffen Memorial Elementary School.
Giffen is one of a handful of local schools to benefit from a University at 91¸£Àûµ¼º½ study of air quality funded by the EPA. There is a sensor inside the school measuring air quality, and there are outdoor sensors monitoring the surrounding South End neighborhood. U91¸£Àûµ¼º½ started collecting data in August.
Tonko has introduced a bill in Congress giving the Environmental Protection Agency the authority and resources to regularly study indoor air quality in schools and child care facilities. The bill, , also supports development of technical assistance, guidance and best practices to improve indoor air quality in those places.
U91¸£Àûµ¼º½ researcher Md. Aynul Bari took part in Wednesday’s discussion, which included Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter; Giffen parent Raquel Ortiz; district physician Laura Staff, MD; district health services coordinator Suzanne McCarthy; and teachers’ union president Laura Franz.
Also taking part in the roundtable were representatives from the Healthy Schools Network and New York State PTA, along with a researcher from RPI.
October is both National Children’s Health Month and National Healthy Lung Month.
