Schools ozone machine plan off
PLANS to use ozone machines to disinfect classrooms in Welsh schools have been abandoned.
The £3.31m scheme for 1,800 new machines, developed by Swansea University, to help schools in the fight against Covid was announced last month but was almost immediately described as “dangerous, obscene and pointless”.
And a safety review found that the machines were potentially “highly harmful” to children. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) review concluded the machines were not suitable for an education setting.
The review warned that the gas ozone, which can be used as a disinfectant, “is a highly harmful indoor pollutant which is associated with harm to human health at low concentrations and damages diverse and integral components of indoor environments”.
It found that children and those with underlying respiratory conditions are “particularly sensitive to ozone exposure” and that the gas “reacts with a range of compounds present indoors to generate persistent harmful secondary aerosols”.
The study also concluded that the evidence for effective ozone disinfection “is limited in scope and quality”.
A Swansea University spokesman had previously said the machines were designed to be used only for deep cleaning where there has been a confirmed outbreak.
He said testing had taken place over eight months in Swansea University classrooms, as well as in three “school scenarios”.
The Welsh Government has now said the cash for the ozone scheme would be used in schools and colleges to improve ventilation.
The Welsh Conservatives’ education representative, Laura Anne Jones, said the Labour policy was “sadly not thought through”.
Sian Gwenllian, Plaid Cymru’s education spokeswoman, welcomed the move to “pull the plug on the controversial and ill-fated ozone machine scheme”.
Laura Doel, director of National Association of Head Teachers Cymru, said: “We are pleased that additional funding will be made available to schools and we will continue to work with the Welsh Government on the issue of ventilation.”