Listen: Many Schools Are Buying High-Tech Air Purifiers. What Should Parents Know?

September 8, 2021

</p> <p><em>This is a collaboration between KHN and “Science Friday.” <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/schools-air-purifiers/" rel="noopener">Listen to the conversation</a> between KHN senior correspondent Christina Jewett and Science Friday’s host and executive producer, Ira Flatow.</em></p> <p>As students return to school, parents are getting a lot of mail about what schools are doing to better protect kids in the classroom — including details on mask policies and how kids will sit at lunch. One item on many administrators’ lists of protective measures is improving ventilation in the classroom.</p> <p>Many studies have shown that better ventilation and air circulation can greatly reduce covid-19 transmission. But rather than stocking up on HEPA filters, some school districts are turning to high-tech air purification strategies, including the use of untested electronic methods and airborne chemicals.</p> <p>KHN has written extensively about school air filtration. Senior correspondent Christina Jewett joins Ira Flatow to explain why some air-quality experts are less than convinced by the marketing claims made by many electronic air purifier companies.</p> <p>Don’t miss the simple snail-mail hack Jewett shares to gauge whether the device your school is using might be of concern.</p> <p>
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