SINPHONIE - Schools Indoor Pollution and Health Observatory Network in Europe database on chemical and biological pollutants

The SINPHONIE project established a scientific/technical network to act at the EU level with the long-term perspective of improving air quality in schools and kindergartens, thereby reducing the risk and burden of respiratory diseases among children and teachers potentially due to outdoor and indoor air pollution. At the same time, the project supports future policy actions by formulating guidelines, recommendations and risk management options for better air quality and associated health effects in schools. SINPHONIE was initiated and funded by the European Parliament. It was carried out under a contract with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO). The project was conceived as a challenging pilot research project in the fields of health and environment, targeting mainly indoor air in schools but also outdoor air in the school vicinity, including consideration of the impacts of traffic and climate change. The multidisciplinary project was designed to run for two years (2010-2012). It covered most European countries, including some EU accession countries, and aimed to survey schools and establish an observatory network in Europe on school indoor pollution and health. Besides the ultimate objective of improving air quality in schools and kindergartens in the long term, the project also paid special attention to improving overall IAQ assessment in European schools and to elaborating methods and procedures for undertaking wide-scale surveys and auditing, which are essential tools in IAQ monitoring and building assessments. Gaining an understanding of children exposure to particular indoor air pollutants and evaluating the associated potential health outcomes are prerequisites for providing appropriate support to policy making and action. The SINPHONIE consortium involved 38 partners from 25 countries, and one associated partner from Belgium. The partners contributed broad expertise in the fields of health, exposure, sources and IAQ-related policies, as well as some of the comfort parameters associated with the management of building envelopes and ventilation. Overall, 114 primary schools in 23 European countries participated in the environment and health monitoring and assessment. By capitalising on existing knowledge and sources, the SINPHONIE project attempted to extend the range of available information covering old and new EU member states and some accession countries using a comprehensive procedure