CT State Bond Commission approves $11.5 million for DOY filters | fox61.com

Oct 24, 2024

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HARTFORD, Conn. — This week, the Connecticut Bond Commission approved an $11.5 investment in do-it-yourself style air filters to be rolled out in schools statewide.

The idea was tested and certified by the EPA, and researches say it can remove 97% of infectious aerosols, such as viruses, from the classroom.

“We looked at the lab results and we knew we had something special so we partnered with our school of education to create lesson plans so that this is essentially a science project for Connecticut schools that takes only 30 minutes, $65 and has a tremendous public health utility,” Marina Creed, with the indoor air quality initiative at the University of Connecticut, said.

It’s something you might find at a school invention convention, where students use their creativity to address real world challenges.

“A lot of my friends were getting sick with allergies and sicknesses," Eniola Shokunbi, an eighth grader in Middletown, said.

She believes they're getting sick from the germs floating around her Middletown school, so she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

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“I thought this would really help,” she said.

Shokunbi teamed up with her classmates, at the time all in the fifth grade, along with an air filtration team at UConn, which supplied the material.

They assembled a do-it-yourself style air filter, made out of a box fan, four common furnace filters, duct-tape and cardboard.

“You can make it at home by yourself or you can make it with multiple people,” Shokunbi said. “It helps create teamwork, collaboration, stem, you learn about science and how it works.”

This funding serves as a five-year investment and is considered to be more cost-effective than traditional filtration systems that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars.

RELATED: Yes, your car's recirculate button helps reduce air pollution in your vehicle

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Bridgette Bjorlo is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

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