Air Quality Monitor Is Hot New Back-To-School Item In The US

Parents packing kids off to school with such devices to check premises are well ventilated

NEW YORK • When Ms Lizzie Rothwell, an architect in Philadelphia, sent her son to third grade this autumn, she stocked his blue backpack with pencils, wide-ruled paper – and a portable carbon dioxide monitor.

The device gave her a quick way to assess how much fresh air was flowing through the school. Low levels of CO2 would indicate that the place was well ventilated, reducing her son’s odds of catching the coronavirus.

But she quickly found that during lunch, CO2 levels in the cafeteria rose to nearly double those recommended by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

She shared what she had learnt with the principal and asked if the children could eat outside instead.

“He expressed surprise that I had any data at all,” said Ms Rothwell, who is one of a growing number of parents who are sneaking CO2 monitors into schools in a clandestine effort to make sure their children’s classrooms are safe.