For two years running, two Tantramar area schools have tested high in carbon dioxide ratios for indoor air.

Marshview Middle School and Dorchester Consolidated were tested by the provincial department of education starting in 2021 because they don’t have full mechanical ventilation systems. In 2021, both schools showed peak levels of carbon dioxide above 1500 parts per million, which according to epidemiologist Colin Furness, speaking to U of T News, means staff and students are breathing “stale air.” It also means both schools qualified for another round of testing in 2022.

The province stopped testing in schools with results under 1500 parts per million, testing fewer schools in 2022 than in 2021. That’s despite the fact that some schools, such as Marshview and Dorchester, showed increases year over year. In 2022, Marshview hit 3914 parts per million, the highest of the 37 schools tested that year. Dorchester Consolidated showed peak levels of 2916 parts per million. For comparison, outdoor air is about 400 parts per million in carbon dioxide, according to Furness.

Data from New Brunswick department of Education and Early Childhood Development Indoor Air Quality Testing.

30 out of 37 school showed peak levels above 1500 parts per million, but the Department of Education says that “no concerns have been raised by Public Health about the [Indoor Air Quality] testing results.”

Meanwhile parents like Sackville’s Dave Thomas are concerned. “It’s not a good learning environment when you have CO2 readings that high,” says Thomas. “It’s not a safe place for people who work there, and for the kids who are there, in terms of potential illness.” Experts like Furness and engineer Joey Fox, who is chair of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers Air Quality Advisory Group, say Thomas has reason to be concerned.

On CBC Moncton’s Information Morning recently, Fox said the high CO2 readings in New Brunswick schools were a “health and safety issue” which could impact the ability to function properly, and also increase the incidence of respiratory illnesses.

The province says it has invested $30 million in school ventilation since 2015, and indeed this year both Marshview Middle School and Dorchester Consolidated are due to receive new mechanical ventilation systems. But Fox is calling for continuous monitoring along with improved ventilation, and also short terms solutions for schools with problems.

Thomas has been raising concerns about indoor air quality since students returned to school after the early stages of the pandemic. “It’s good they’re at least doing some testing in the schools that don’t have mechanical ventilation,” says Thomas. “It’s unfortunate it has taken them so long to release the results.”

The province quietly published results online this spring, and a spokesperson told CBC that results from 2023 testing will be released in the summer. It’s not clear why there is a months-long delay to release the results.

“I don’t think it’s being very transparent the way that they’ve gone about doing it,” says Thomas, who is still awaiting a reply from the minister regarding concerns he expressed more than a year ago.

Thomas is please that some schools (including Marshview and Dorchester) will receive ventilation systems this summer. Department of Education spokesperson Morgan Bell says the two Tantramar school installations are expected to begin this summer and should be completed in the fall. But after those installations, the province will stop testing indoor air quality. Schools that have ventilation systems are not tested by the province. “Once a system is installed testing is no longer needed as the air circulation improves with the mechanical ventilation systems,” writes Bell in email response to CHMA. But Bell also said that future phases of the program will look into testing schools that have ventilation systems.

That’s something Thomas would like to see, and something experts like Fox and Furness recommend. Thomas believes indoor air quality monitoring should be happening at all schools, including those with mechanical ventilation systems such as Salem Elementary, Port Elgin Regional School, and Tantramar Regional High School.

“The simple fact that the ventilation system exists does not mean that it is working properly,” says Thomas. He’s experienced examples on the Mount Allison campus where he teaches of ventilation systems appearing to work well, but CO2 monitoring revealing high levels in certain spaces.

Thomas is happy so see Marshview and Dorchester get systems this year, but is frustrated with the timeline. “All of this is taking so long,” says Thomas. “Three years into the pandemic, and we’re still finally getting to a stage where some schools are getting upgrades with their mechanical ventilation.”

Corsi-Rosenthal boxes created by volunteers at the Sackville Commons. The devices are described as easy-to-make and inexpensive air purifiers. Photo: twitter.com/DThom_

He’d also like to see a ramped up monitoring program for indoor air quality in all schools, and some short terms measures like portable HEPA filters or Corsi-Rosenthal boxes wherever monitoring shows issues. The department of education has expressly forbid Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in schools, citing safety concerns, but says it allows certain approved portable HEPA filters. Thomas says the portable filters are band-aid fixes, but they do provide an extra layer of protection.

Meanwhile Fox is advocating for a stronger political response on indoor air quality starting in schools and long term care facilities, but extending beyond that. He told CBC he’d ultimately like to see an indoor air quality act federally. “We don’t worry about the cost of making sure people have clean water,” Fox told CBC. “This is a moral issue. It’s an issue of human rights to provide people with clean air.”