Sick building syndrome: Acute illness among office workers--the role of building ventilation, airborne contaminants and work stress
- Univ. of California, San Francisco (USA)
Outbreaks of acute illness among office workers have been reported with increasing frequency during the past 10-15 years. In the majority of cases, hazardous levels of airborne contaminants have not been found. Generally, health complaints have involved mucous membrane and respiratory tract irritation and nonspecific symptoms such as headache and fatigue. Except for rare examples of hypersensitivity pneumonitis related to microbiologic antigens, there have been no reports of serious morbidity or permanent sequelae. However, the anxiety, lost work time, decreased productivity and resources spent in investigating complaints has been substantial. NIOSH has reported on 446 Health Hazards Evaluations that were done in response to indoor air complaints. This data base is the source of most of the published accounts of building-related illness. Their results are summarized here with a discussion of common pollutants (tobacco smoke, formaldehyde, other organic volatiles), and the limitations of the available industrial hygiene and epidemiologic data. There has been one large scale epidemiologic survey of symptoms among office workers. The results associate risk of symptoms to building design and characteristics of the heating/air-conditioning systems, consistent with the NIOSH experience. Building construction since the 1970s has utilized energy conservation measures such as improved insulation, reduced air exchange, and construction without opening windows. These buildings are considered airtight and are commonly involved in episodes of building-associated illness in which no specific etiologic agent can be identified. After increasing the percentage of air exchange or correcting specific deficiencies found in the heating/air-conditioning systems, the health complaints often resolve, hence, the term tight building syndrome or sick building syndrome.
- OSTI ID:
- 6868573
- Journal Information:
- Allergy Proceedings; (USA), Journal Name: Allergy Proceedings; (USA) Vol. 11:3; ISSN 1046-9354; ISSN ALPRE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) indoor air quality in office buildings
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
ALDEHYDES
ANIMALS
BUILDINGS
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
EPIDEMIOLOGY
FORMALDEHYDE
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
MAMMALS
MAN
MATTER
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NIOSH
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
OFFICE BUILDINGS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERSONNEL
POLLUTION
PRIMATES
RESIDUES
REVIEWS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SMOKES
SOLS
SYMPTOMS
TOBACCO SMOKES
US ORGANIZATIONS
VENTILATION
VERTEBRATES
VOLATILE MATTER