engleski

Sick building syndrome : Do we live and work in unhealthy environment?

The sick building syndrome (SBS) is defined as environmentally related condition with increased prevalence of non-specific symptoms among the populations of certain buildings, often without clinical signs and objective measures of symptoms. SBS complaints seem to be the result of the interaction of environmental, occupational, and psychological factors, and they are probably not caused by poor indoor air quality alone. This review gives a brief overview of SBS, along with focusing on many of the causes of "sick" homes and buildings and discussing the research dedicated to solving this increasing problem. Relevant literature during the past 20 years was selected from Medline and discussed. This overview focuses on the relationship between selected aspects of indoor environment quality and health and comfort outcomes related to sick building syndrome. Among environmental factors assessed, there were generally consistent findings associating increased symptoms with air-conditioning, meny workers in a space, videoterminal use, and ventilation rates at or below 10 litres/second/person. Among personal factors assessed, there were generally consistent findings associating increased symptoms with female gender, job stress/dissatisfaction, and allergies. Sick building syndrome generally affects people employed in offices or other buildings that house many workers in close proximity. Most frequently, it occurs in newer office buildings which are designed to be energy-efficient. A multi-disciplinary approach including personality aspects, allergic disorders and indoor exposures should be applied in investigations of human health problems related to staying in modern buildings.

sick building syndromee; health complaints; work environment

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