Investigation on Indoor Air Quality in Nursery School Classrooms for the Comfort and Health of Infants and Proposal of Indoor Environmental Standards

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K02651
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 09030:Childhood and nursery/pre-school education-related
• Research Institution: Nagasaki University
• Principal Investigator: Genjo Kahori 長崎大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (90315648)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 横江 彩 中部大学, 工学部, 准教授 (50761235)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 保育室 / 乳幼児 / 快適性 / 健康性 / 空気環境 / 室内環境 / 環境調整 / 環境基準

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Indoor air environments in nursery school classrooms were investigated to prepare fundamental information for proper environmental design and environmental control considering infants’ health. Indoor environments were measured in nine different nursery schools in Nagasaki City, Japan during the summer and winter in 2020 and 2021.
As a result of the measurements, some problems were found in CFU (colony forming unit) of airborne fungi, CO2 concentration, PM2.5 concentration, and temperature in the summer, and in the CO2 concentration and temperature in the winter. Indoor environmental standards for maintaining the comfort and health of infants are proposed that a CO2 concentration of 1000 ppm for ventilation, a temperature of 26－28℃ in summer and 20－23℃ in winter, a relative humidity of 40%－70%, and CFU of airborne fungi of 1000 cfu/m3, and the same indoor concentration as the indoor concentration standards of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Free Research Field

建築環境工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

乳幼児が長時間を過ごす保育室における空気環境を中心とする室内環境の問題点を夏季、冬季の実測調査を通じて明らかにし、二酸化炭素濃度、夏季及び冬季の温度、相対湿度、空中浮遊カビ数、化学物質濃度に関する室内環境基準を提案した。体温調節能力が未熟な上に、体が小さいために大人に比べ室内環境の影響を受けやすい乳幼児が快適で健康に過ごす上で必要となる室内物理環境条件を明らかにしたが、これは保育室だけでなく、乳幼児が過ごす他のさまざまな住環境においても適用可能である。さらに、本研究によって、保育室における夏季の熱中症防止や冬季における風邪や感染症予防のための環境整備に有用な情報を提供することができた。