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ABSTRACT
Apart from the home, the school serves as a major indoor environment for students and lecturers as they spend a lot of hours in the classrooms and may be exposed to air pollutants. The study aimed to assess the indoor air quality of classrooms within the University of BeninThirty classrooms were randomly selected for the weekly monitoring of meteorological parameters ( temperature, relative humidity and wind speed) and selected air pollutants (CO, PM1.0, PM2.5 and PM10). The mean concentrations of particulate matter and meteorological readings were analysed using the SPSS version 22.0. The results revealed that the average meteorological parameters in the classrooms were 30.2 and 37.1 ℃ (Temp), 38.6 to 60.7% (RH) and 0.3 and 3.5 m/s (WS) respectively. The mean concentrations of the monitored air quality parameters were 0.0 mg/m3 (CO), 26.8 and 32.6 µg/m3 (PM1.0), 43.7 and 52.2 µg/m3 (PM2.5) while 6.6 and 69.8µg/m3 µg/m3 (PM10) across the classrooms. The mean values of the observed temperature, relative humidity and particulate matter concentrations were above the permissible limits of ASHREA, 2013 and WHO, 2010. There were significant variations (p<0.05) in both the meteorological and particulate matter concentration across the classrooms in the study locations. The indoor temperature and relative humidity correlated positively (R= 0.460, 0.600, 0.435) and negatively (R=-0.461, -0.446 and -0.603) with the indoor particulate matter concentrations in the monitored classrooms. The AQI status of the classrooms was moderate and unhealthy for sensitive individuals. This could pose air pollution-related health risks to the students and teachers,These findings, therefore, call for an urgent need from the school management and other relevant stakeholders within the educational system to adopt measures in improving the air quality of the classrooms within the University.
