August 19, 2009—ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and its research partner, the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI), have completed Phase I of their research—consisting of laboratory and limited field testing in 70 schools and two day-care facilities—to determine the best methodologies and measurement systems that ultimately will form the foundation for a clean standard for K-12 schools.
The ISSA-funded research is designed to determine which currently available measurement devices are most effective for practical field use in schools by industry professionals in determining whether a facility is “clean” and therefore in a state that is conducive to the health of students.
Preliminary results suggest that adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, measuring devices appear to be a promising and appropriate approach to detecting significant differences between “dirty” and “clean” surfaces in schools. In addition, a comprehensive approach to defining “clean” and indoor environmental quality in K-12 schools is being developed.
In addition to testing cleaning and measurement methods, performance metric data such as student academic performance and absenteeism rates are being provided by the school district. This aspect of the research will study the connection between indoor environmental quality, cleanliness, and student health and performance.
ISSA will host multiple sessions at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2009 October 6-9, in Chicago, IL, addressing its K-12 research progress in more detail. For a list of sessions, visit the ISSA/INTERCLEAN Web site.
