• "From September 2022, all school canteens will be equipped with air purifiers and CO2 sensors", announces Sabrina Decanton, first deputy mayor of Saint-Ouen.

  • The elected official is based on a study by the Respire association carried out in a school in the city, which indicates that air purifiers make it possible to reduce pollution by 44% of fine particles PM2.5 (particles whose diameter is less than 2.5 micrometers).

The city of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) will equip its school canteens with air purifiers.

The decision, announced at

20 Minutes

by the first assistant in charge of ecological transition, was taken following a study carried out by the Respire association in a school in the city, which shows a reduction in the pollution of certain particles. fines of 44% on average once these purifiers are installed.

"From September 2022, all school canteens will be equipped with air purifiers and CO2 sensors", announces Sabrina Decanton, first deputy mayor of Saint-Ouen, delegate for ecological transition, mobility, nature. in the city and in relations with the metropolis.

A reduction of 44%

The Respire association conducted a study in two classes of the Anatole-France elementary school, in Saint-Ouen, from January 3 to July 1, 2022. In these two very similar and contiguous classes, located in the immediate vicinity of the construction works in the Olympic Village for the 2024 Olympics, the level of PM2.5 (particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) exceeded the World Health Organization's recommended threshold of 5 micrometers per cubic meter approximately one day on two in each class.

The installation of air purifiers has significantly reduced the rate of these particles, by 44% on average for the two classes.

“The level of PM2.5 concentrations in a class with purifiers in operation drops by 44% on average compared to a class without a purifier in operation over a school day,” the study indicates.

Electrofiltration

The purifiers installed use electrofiltration technology.

The air charged with polluting particles is sucked in by the device, they are then electrically charged by the negative ions produced inside the device, explains the Respire association in its study.

The particles are electrostatically attracted to the polarized plates and are trapped inside the device.

The purified air is then circulated out of the device by a fan.

The purifiers were co-developed by the Teqoya brand with the industrialist Aldes.

This technology is "low in energy consumption" and does not require replacing the filters, according to the Respire association.

Cécile Caudron, engineer at Cerema and pilot of the indoor environment quality theme, warns: "The purifiers recommended by the High Council for Public Health, in its 2021 opinion, are HEPA 13 filtration purifiers. These are physical filters.

Here we are on electrofiltration.

On this technique, opinions are divided, if the ionization is not done well, there is no filtration”.

Make pollution visible

The engineer adds that air purifiers should only be used as a last resort, when public policies to reduce outdoor pollution cannot be put in place.

“We must first, and as a priority, reduce the sources of external pollution, and ventilate”, indicates Cécile Caudron.

However, this experience convinced the city of Saint-Ouen to generalize the system to all school canteens in the city.

For Sabrina Decanton, the initiative is all the more interesting in that it has enabled the pupils to become aware in a concrete way of the existence of the pollution, the pupils being invited to clean the machine.

“Looking at what they cleaned, the children realized what pollution was.

This helps to make visible what is not always visible, to make concrete what is very abstract, ”rejoices the first assistant.

The city of Saint-Ouen has decided to equip its school canteens and not all its classes, for budgetary and equity reasons.

“We didn't want schools to feel aggrieved,” explains Sabrina Decanton.

But the city does not refrain from then extending the system to all classes.

In a previous study carried out in Paris in 2021, in two schools in the 9th arrondissement, the Respire association affirmed that air purifiers make it possible to reduce particle pollution by 20 to 30%.

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  • Ile-de-France

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  • Air pollution

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