Science laboratories are extremely effective learning and motivational centers within schools. The science teacher is able to incorporate a wide range of interesting classroom demonstrations and "hands-on" experiments into the curriculum. These demonstrations and experiments create an exciting environment where the students take an active role in their own education. However, this same environment also contains numerous potential pollutants that may adversely impact the indoor air quality in the laboratories, and possibly other portions of the school.

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide school personnel with an overview of some of the potential indoor air quality (IAQ) problems presented by science laboratories in schools. The publication delineates good professional guidelines, and the various regulatory standards that will minimize the potential for adverse IAQ-related impacts on the school population. The focus of this bulletin is IAQ: it is not intended to cover all aspects of laboratory safety. However, many of the concepts presented herein will augment and reinforce the policies and practices found in laboratory safety manuals.