| In the past decade, the number of health and environmental complaints experienced by employees in white collar environments has increased dramatically. Sick Building Syndrome is the name given to the collection of health complaints that an individual may suffer as a reaction to particular non-industrial indoor environments.;A study to determine the prevalence of employee health symptoms and environmental complaints was carried out in a mechanically ventilated office building in southeastern Ontario. One hundred and seventy-seven questionnaires were completed, 149 by employees on the fourth floor of the building and 22 by third floor workers.;Forty-four percent of all employees surveyed suffered from regular nasal, eye and throat irritation. The majority of employees on the fourth floor regularly experienced mucous membrane irritation, drowsiness and headaches.;The most common environmental complaint at work reported by all employees was that of stuffy, stale air with 86% of those on the third floor and 96% on the fourth floor reporting that this occurred on a regular basis.;Indoor air quality (IAQ) measurements, including carbon dioxide and total suspended particulate levels, were also obtained in the areas surveyed in the building. Some of the complaints reported in the questionnaires could be related in a broad sense to some of the IAQ measurements obtained. |
