BYU Professors Jim Johnston and Darrell Sonntag guided a student-led research team to look at if certain air conditioners cycle more air pollution into a home.
Children spend sixty-three to eighty-three percent of their time indoors, with adults spending seventy percent of their time indoors. Yet, air pollution is only measured using external barometers. This is leading to a lack of data on air pollution inside our homes.
This lack of data and research in the field of indoor pollution led Jim Johnston and Darrell Sontag to lead a research project to look at air pollution in homes in Utah County. They wanted to see if air conditioners are negatively affecting the spaces where we spend many of our lives through recycling pollutants into our homes.
Johnston and Sontag conducted the student led study by sampling two direct sources: inside and outside the house. The team would measure particle pollution and then ozone pollution under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
The two largest air conditioning systems in United States homes are central air units. These are primary air conditioning units that are built into newer and nicer homes. The secondary form of air conditioning is evaporative coolers, otherwise known as swamp coolers.
The goal of the research was to see if specific air conditioning systems would bring more pollutants into a home compared to others.
Students over the summers of 2022 and 2023 would sample the relative pollution measurements in 31 homes in Utah County to see whether there was a different level of pollution in the homes due to these air conditioning systems.
The results of the study showed that homes with evaporative coolers contained three times the air pollutants inside the house and up to five times the ozone pollutants as well.
This is due to evaporative coolers drawing more on air from outside, while central air units more effectively recycle and reuse air inside the home.
One of the largest issues, though, with evaporative coolers is the pervasiveness of them in older and more affordable houses. People that are buying or renting a house with this cooler may not have the financial means to replace their air conditioner, leading to health issues for those without a way to safely avoid it.
This call to attention and examination of public health issues wouldn’t have been able to be accomplished if it wasn’t for the student team that led the research with the help of Sonntag and Johnston.
BYU Public Health students and BYU Engineering students worked hand in hand on the project, with Public Health students gathering and compiling all the data, while the Engineering students helped organize and process the data through computer programming.
Through getting involved with research, the students, through the help of incredible BYU faculty and mentors, were able to help complete a multi-year research project with true applicable benefits to the world and public health.
Students are making an impactful difference in the world by helping to create a healthier and more sustainable world.
To learn more about research opportunities, reach out to Public Health faculty. There are always research opportunities in Public Health, and it’s a fantastic way to get involved in Public Health.
To read more about the research that Dr. Johnston and Dr. Sonntag worked on click here to learn more: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384706129_Impact_of_Air_Conditioning_Type_on_Outdoor_Ozone_Intrusion_into_Homes_in_a_Semi-Arid_Climate