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SBS/CAUSES
source: www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/
hpguide.html
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There has been extensive speculation about the cause or causes of SBS…- poor design, maintenance, and/or operation of the structure's ventilation system may be at fault. The ventilation system itself can be a source of irritants. Interior redesign, such as the rearrangement of offices or installation of partitions, may also interfere with efficient functioning of such systems;
- humidity may also be a factor: while high relative humility may contribute to biological pollutant problems, an unusually low level - below 20 or 30% - may heighten the effects of mucosal irritants and may even prove irritating itself;
- other contributing elements may include poor lighting and adverse ergonomic conditions, temperature extremes, noise, and psychological stresses that may have both individual and interpersonal impact.
The prevalence of the problem is unknown… - In its 1999 Guidelines for Air Pollution Control (revised September 2000), the World Health Organization underlined that indoor air pollution is the primary cause in as many as 50 million cases of occupational chronic respiratory disease each year – 1/3 of all occupational illnesses. These are widespread, debilitating and affect people in their social and economic prime of life. They are preventable with a minimum of resources.
- the US EPA concedes that about 30% of new or renovated buildings have serious indoor air quality problems (IAQ), and ranks IAQ as the US most prominent environmental problem. In a nationwide, random sampling of US office workers, 24% perceived air quality problems in their work environments, and 20% believed their work performance was hampered thereby**.
* US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation. Indoor Air Facts No. 4: Sick Building Syndrome, revised, 1991.** Kreiss, Kathleen. The Sick Building Syndrome: Where Is the Epidemiologic Basis?, American Journal of Public Health 1990; 80:1172-73.
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