ORLANDO, Fla., June 30, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Many public and private schools across the country contend with indoor air quality issues -- including mold spores -- which can aggravate asthma, irritate eyes and cause other health problems for teachers and students alike.
Schools that have installed the Purifan Clean Air System, however, have reported major improvements in the quality of indoor air -- often within days. Howard Wilson Elementary is one of those schools.
Administrators at the Leavenworth, Kan., school believed indoor air quality was one reason school attendance was declining. They needed to reverse that trend for the students' sakes -- and to comply with No Child Left Behind requirements.
That was two years ago. Today, school attendance has increased from 90.2 percent to 96.26 -- thanks to several initiatives to boost students' wellness and improve indoor air quality.
"There are so many different things that affect a child," says fourth-grade teacher Jim Wolfe. "And when a child walks in and they have allergies and they just don't feel good -- regardless of how hard they're trying to maintain focus -- they won't do as good a job."
The school's multi-pronged approach included installing the Purifan Clean Air System -- starting with just one classroom.
"Since we installed the Purifan in the classroom, I've noticed that my students are feeling better. I have fewer students absent...they're having fewer allergy problems. And if they are feeling better, then they are doing better in the classroom academically," says Wolfe.
"I was absolutely flabbergasted the first time I saw a filter that had been changed from my Purifan," says Wolfe. "You can see the dust, the dirt and the chalk dust -- all the different things that were trapped by this filter. If they had not gone into the filter of the Purifan, a great deal of that would have gone into the bodies of the people in the classroom."
The Purifan Clean Air System (www.purifan.com) has improved indoor air quality in other public and private schools, as well.
"We have an absolutely wonderful product," says Purifan president and CEO Stan Brannan, "and it's especially rewarding to see how it helps teachers and students by improving indoor air quality. Some students with allergies say they look forward to school, because the air is cleaner there than at home."
Why Should Schools Care About Indoor Air Quality?
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that failure to prevent or quickly resolve indoor air quality problems can:
-- Increase the potential for long-term and short-term health
problems, e.g., asthma -- the number one cause of student
absenteeism.
-- Increase absenteeism of students and staff.
-- Reduce productivity for teachers and staff.
-- Accelerate deterioration and reduce efficiency of heating/cooling
equipment.
-- Strain relationships among school administrators, parents and
staff.
-- Create potential liability problems.
How Purifan Cleans Indoor Air
The Purifan Clean Air System mounts on a standard ceiling fan, replacing the blades. It is powered by the fan's motor, circulating more than 2,000 cubic feet of air every minute. The air is cleaned through a five-stage filtering system. It quietly runs on the equivalent of a 60-watt light bulb and is easy to maintain.
More than 35,000 Purifan Clean Air Systems are "at work" improving indoor air quality today in homes, schools, nursing homes, restaurants, bars, offices and many other places across the country. The Purifan is available through more than 50 distributors nationwide, through the company's site at www.purifan.com, or by calling 1-800-686-6132.