After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) provided 60,000 air purifiers to over 500 K-12 school districts. IDPH further strengthened its impact by securing an additional 20,000 air purifiers for day care centers across Illinois. All air purifiers were provided at no cost.
The IDPH initiative sought to make learning environments safer by improving indoor air quality while also providing a research opportunity for investigating how indoor air quality impacts learning and health outcomes.
The Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI), part of the University of Illinois System, partnered with IDPH to manage the distribution of air purifiers to day care centers. Additionally, the Will County Emergency Management Office provided incredible support by serving as a hub site. Volunteers from Will County, in partnership with OSI, helped deploy purifiers and the accompanying replacement filters.
“When IDPH required logistical support to distribute air purifiers to day care centers statewide, they turned to us based on our track record of efficiently establishing a comprehensive distribution network,” said Anna Pinsoneault, director of Public Health and Research Partnerships with OSI.
OSI distributed air purifiers to approximately 2,220 day care centers, in addition to supplying more than 300,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen tests. Around 70% of shipments were dispatched from the Will County office with the remaining 30% from a federal warehouse site in Peoria.
“The day cares welcomed the air purifiers and antigen tests eagerly,” Pinsoneault explained. “Given the challenges of implementing traditional measures with young children, such as masking and social distancing, enhancing air quality and having accessible COVID tests can effectively reduce the spread of respiratory diseases.”
Day care center eligibility and enrollment
IDPH contacted day care centers across Illinois, identifying those that could benefit the most from access to free air purifiers. Day cares completed forms to determine the distribution quantity, ensuring one air purifier for every 10 students. Additionally, each purifier was equipped with a two-year supply of replacement filters, emphasizing a sustained commitment to maintaining optimal air quality.
Air quality impact study
To assess the impact of air purifiers on health, SHIELD Illinois funded a research collaboration with IDPH, the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). “In the U.S., people spend 80% to 85% of their time indoors. If we are indoors the majority of the time, there needs to be further research into what our exposure level is, what its sources are, and what the pollutants are,” said Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh, professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at UIC, who leads the research efforts.
The research assesses portable air cleaners and how they reduce particulate matter in the K-12 schools that participated in the IDPH air purifier program. The research continues to explore the correlations between environmental and operational factors, including the increase of indoor pollutants from inadequate indoor ventilation and sickness-related absenteeism.
IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra, a pediatrician, emphasized the importance of air purification:
“Data over these last three years have shown us the critical importance of good ventilation to keep children and adults safe from respiratory illnesses. These high-efficiency particle air purifiers are a significant investment in our children, and I am very excited that the State of Illinois can make this impact. They will keep kids healthy and in school, ensuring more opportunities for learning and success for years to come.”
Hopeful future
IDPH remains hopeful these efforts will raise awareness about the critical role of air quality in public health.
“As public health practitioners, we are conscious of the role of air quality as a social determinant of health,” said Charles H. Williams, bureau chief of testing at IDPH. “We hope that introducing air purifiers to improve air quality …yields measurable effects on school health, and we are implementing air quality impact studies to measure the effects of this intervention.”
Regarding the future of indoor air quality studies, Williams continued, “Our next steps will be to share the findings with key stakeholders, with the goal of raising awareness of the importance of air quality and as evidence to inform future air quality improvement initiatives.”
