Quick Resource Guide – Healthy Schools

Karen RobinsonClassroom Materials - Lesson Plans, Environmental Health, Indoor Air Quality, Indoor Mould, Pesticides, Sick Schools - Healthy Schools, Taking Action, Tools for Schools IAQ Action Kit

Quick Resource Guide – Healthy Schools

December 2020

Canadians for A Safe Learning Environment (CASLE) closed its doors in 2017, however attempts are made to periodically update this resource sheet because the need for information relevant to school Indoor Air Quality and Health and Safety is ongoing.  We hope this information helps you find what you need and we invite you to circulate it.

1.CASLE’s archived website of guides, articles, videos, presentations, materials: www.casle.ca

2. Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit for Canadian Schools, 2003 – VERY USEFUL kit for use by school staff, students or others to improve school Indoor Air Quality. Health Canada’s version is on line at http://publications.gc.ca/Collection/H46-2-03-292E.pdf click on Continue to Publication.

It can also be found by calling 1-833-223-1014 or emailing hc.air.sc@canada.ca

CASLE’s streamlined checklists can be found at www.casle.ca

Also, the similar US EPA’s Kit and its Design Tools for Schools (for new or renovated schools) can be found here: www.epa.gov/iaq/schooldesign

3. Healthy School Design and Construction explains the design and construction of Healthy School buildings, including how to choose non-toxic products and materials, choosing a good building site, Draft Building Readiness Guidelines, and much more. The Appendix contains excellent additional information. www.casle.ca

4. Guidelines to Accommodate Students and Staff with Environmental Sensitivities: A Guide for Schools

By Women’s College Hospital’s Environmental Health Clinic and CASLE. Approximately 1 million Canadians, many of whom are students or staff of schools, have been diagnosed with EI/MCS. This guide explains how to fully integrate them into your community. https://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/assets/legacy/wch/programs/pdfs/HealthySchoolsGuidelines.pdf

5. The School Administrator’s Guide to a Healthy School: for principals and VPs, experienced and new, at www.casle.ca

6. Mold Remediation guidelines. See:

7. The New Brunswick Lung Association’s Healthy School webpage is temporarily off line. Check for videos on school Indoor Air Quality: how to do a building walk-through, and Scent-Free schools. www.nb.lung.ca

8. Cleaning for Health: Products and Practices for a Safer indoor Environment. Culver et al., 2002 www.informinc.org/cleanforhealth.php

9. Pest Control: Steve Tvedten’s Best Control Site: www.stephentvedten.com/Stephen_Tvedten.htm

Or, Pest Control in the School Environment. Texas Structural Pest Control Board, P.O. Box 9536-172, Austin, Texas. Prepared in conjunction with the US EPA. See: Pesticide Research and Alternatives at www.casle.ca

10. Teachers: Use the Indoor Air Quality lesson plans available on CASLE’s website.

11. Less Toxic Art Materials Information: McCann, Michael, Phd., CIH, Artist Beware: The Hazards and Precautions of Working with Art and Craft Materials. New York, Watson & Guptill Publishing.

Art materials and information: The Art and Creative Materials Institute at www.acminet.org/index.htm

12. The Guide to Less Toxic Products from the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia. A guide to the selection of safe personal care products and more. Endorsed by Dr David Suzuki and the Sierra Club of Canada. www.lesstoxicguide.ca

13. Indoor Air Quality Handbook. (The best we have ever found!) Spengler, Samet and McCarthy, McGraw-Hill, 2001. ISBN0-07-445549-4

14. The Toxic Schoolhouse, an engaging history of environmental health in North American schools, including current status, hazards, and progress, and including a section on CASLE’s work. 2014, Baywood Publishing Co. INC. 26 Austin Avenue, PO Box 337, Amityville, New York 1170.

15. The Healthy School Handbook, U.S. National Education Association, highly recommended reading. To order, call (202)822-7252. Give stock number 1863-X-20-E.

16. Companies are flocking to be seen as “green” and healthy. How can consumers tell the difference?

  • The Guide to Less Toxic Products (www.lesstoxicguide.ca)
  • Buyers Guides for Professionals and Consumers by Healthy Indoors Partnership search for “Buyers Guides” www.casle.ca
  • Seven sins of Greenwashing: http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/

17. QEESI test: A scientifically verified method of determining links between indoor environments and health symptoms. Go to: http://familymed.uthscsa.edu/qeesi.pdf

18. Understanding Environmental Sensitivities: http://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/policy-environmental-sensitivities Dr. Meg Sears report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, 2007

19. Health Canada’s free publications, Health and Environment

20. Is This Your Child’s World? Rapp, 1996, ISBN 0-553-10513-2. Also, A CD video called Environmentally Sick Schools by Dr. Doris Rapp, Practical Allergy Research Foundation, PO Box 60, Buffalo, N.Y., 14223. (1-800-787-8780)

21. Canadian Network for Human Health and the Environment, www.cnhhe-rcshe.ca

22. Hazardous materials website, California Department of Health: www.dhs.ca.gov/ohb/HESIS/hesispub.htm

23. National Research Council Canada’s program for selecting low-emission building materials. http://ia-quest.software.informer.com/1.1/

  • Envirodesic Certification Program: evaluates products for better Indoor Air Quality. (905) 642-8866
  • Environmental Choice Program ECOLOGO: evaluates products for Mother Earth and IAQ. (613) 247-1900.

24. Building Materials for the Environmentally Hypersensitive, and other publications from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). (see local listings)

25. Indoor Air Quality in Schools, The Material Specification Guide, and other publication from the Cutter Corporation. (617) 648-8700.

26. Chemical Exposures: Low Levels and High Stakes. Ashford & Miller, NY Van Nostrand & Reinhold, 1998.