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For The IAQ Industry May, 2008 Vol. 1
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Sick Building Syndrome
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The World Health Organization first recognized sick building syndrome (SBS) in 1982, yet debates still rage about the cause or even the existence of SBS. Often SBS outbreaks are attributed to “mass psychogenic” response. Today, however, there is substantial research that identifies SBS as a very real condition. The EPA distinguishes between SBS – illnesses that have no determinate cause, and BRI, building related illness – diagnosable illnesses that have identifiable origins in building contaminants.
A good indication of SBS is if an illness occurs Monday through Friday, for example, but disappears over the weekends, it follows that some element of the work environmen t is causing the condition. The EPA says, “sited causes of or contributing factors to sick building syndrome include inadequate ventilation, chemical contaminants from indoor sources, chemical contaminants from outdoor sources, and biological contaminants.
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Old Allergy Advice
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It used to be thought that if you had allergies, particularly when pollen counts were high, that the outdoors was the worst place to be. Most people with allergies were advised to stay indoors with the windows closed. Since then we have learned that such advice could make allergies even worse.
As we know now, the jungle inside our homes is often much worse than the jungle outside. Dust, dust mites, molds, and chemicals inside the home can cause worse reactions than most things encountered outdoors.
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ISEA
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| The International Society of Exposure Analysis was established in 1989 to foster and advance the science of exposure analysis related to environmental contaminants. The membership promotes communication among all disciplines involved in exposure analysis, recommends exposure analysis approaches to address substantive or methodological concerns, and works to strengthen the impact of exposure assessment on environmental policy. The Society publishes 6 times a year the Journal of Exposure Analysis & Environmental Epidemiology which is full of studies and research on a vast array of contaminant exposure topics. |
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