270 classes already equipped with CO2 detectors in schools

It is a tool that improves the quality of the air breathed by schoolchildren and limits the risk of the spread of coronavirus. The city of Toulon (Var) has installed CO2 detectors in 270 classrooms, reports Var-Matin. A thousand devices have been ordered, for a sum of 120,000 euros.

The device comes in the form of a small white box. It lights up in green, orange or red as the air quality in the room changes. When the red color appears, the concentration of CO2 is too high: the teachers therefore ventilate the room.

“An effective prevention tool”

The Ministry of National Education has been encouraging local communities since April to obtain CO2 detectors. “Because the higher the CO2 level in a room, the higher the risk of concentration of droplets emitted by individuals while breathing,” explains Antoine Flahault, professor of epidemiology and director of the Institute for Global Health in Geneva.

“It is an effective prevention tool for informing us about the necessary renewal of the air in classrooms and common places,” said Jean-Philippe Feraud, director of the Basse-Convention school, to the Var daily. The municipality wishes to equip all schools and kindergartens with these boxes, as well as nurseries and nurseries, eventually.