DIY project could provide up to 20 new indoor air filter boxes to Tantramar orgs
A local group is hoping to get more DIY indoor air filters in spaces in Tantramar this fall and winter, and Renaissance Sackville has recommended funding a project to help.
At their meeting tonight, Tantramar council will vote on putting $3200 of the $25,000 Renaissance budget towards producing up to 20 new Corsi-Rosenthal boxes for indoor spaces in the municipality, and refurbishing some of the existing supply.
The boxes are a “do-it-yourself air filtration unit,” says organizer Dave Thomas, constructed from a standard box fan, four MERV-13 furnace filters, some cardboard, and duct tape.
“One of the things that we’ve learned through the pandemic is that in order to protect ourselves from getting COVID, we need layers of protection, and one of the layers of protection is [air] filtration,” says Thomas.
The Corsi-Rosenthal box is named after dean of engineering at University of California Davis, Richard Corsi, who came up with the idea, and Jim Rosenthal, the head of a filter manufacturer in Texas, who first built it. The boxes are a lower cost alternative to portable HEPA filters, which can range from $200 to $500 each for small to medium rooms, says Thomas.
Last fall, Thomas and others started helping to build the boxes for local groups like the Sackville Commons, at a cost of about $110 each, but he expects costs this year to be slightly higher. He’s planning to replace filters in roughly 10-15 boxes this year, and build up to 20 more, depending on costs.… Continue
High CO2 levels in Marshview and Dorchester schools a ‘health and safety issue’
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.
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.… Continue