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Hello all,
I just read a fascinating blog post from NSTA regarding lab air quality control; https://www.nsta.org/blog/laboratory-air-quality-nothing-sneeze. The article discusses the shocking statistics regarding how science and technology education has contributed to health- related allergy problems and air quality problems over the past few decades. This article stood out to me because it discusses actions schools and teachers can take to have a safe and healthy lab environment.
Some important take aways from the article are that it is vital for schools to have registration procedures that require parents or guardians of students to inform school authorities if their child has any life-threatening medical conditions, including allergies, respiratory issues, etc. Secondly, the school’s medical support personnel should be required to confer with laboratory teachers about any of these medical conditions. If a student has a life-threatening allergy, parents should provide written medical advice from the child's physician. Some guidlines for student accommodation for a life-threatening allergy should include; an awareness/response plan to be be developed involving the laboratory teacher, the school nurse, the parent(s), and the administration. Some preventative actions might include these: elimination of food products with allergens from laboratory work, maintenance of effective laboratory hygiene practices, establishment of emergency procedures to respond to an incident. Lastly, procedures in response to an emergency such as staff training for the treatment of students at risk of anaphylaxis should be provided.
Source: https://www.nsta.org/blog/laboratory-air-quality-nothing-sneeze
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