BACKGROUND Office exposures have been linked to symptoms of sick building syndrome, but their relation to the development of asthma has not been studied previously. These exposures have increasing importance because an increasing proportion of the workforce is working in office environments. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the relations of exposure to carbonless copy paper (CCP...

The free-living protozoan Acanthamoeba is an opportunistic pathogen that is ubiquitous in our environment. However, its role in affecting indoor air quality and ill-health of indoor occupants is relatively unknown. The present study investigated the presence of Acanthamoeba from the ventilation system and its correlation with other indoor air quality parameters, used in the industry code of pra...

Fungi produce various mixtures of gas-phase, carbon-based compounds called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that due to their small size are able to diffuse through the atmosphere and soils. Despite some methodological and technological constraints, researchers have detected and characterized approximately 250 fungal VOCs, many of which have characteristic odors and are produced during primary...

This paper presents key elements on which to base the design of a strategy for a particular indoor environment measurement task. Starting from a general strategy for responding to occupant complaints and conducting epidemiological and intervention studies the paper concentrates on selected key elements, with focus on air contaminants. Strategies for grouping of occupants with the purpose of exp...

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of symptoms associated with the sick building syndrome (SBS) has recently been shown to decrease by 40% to 50% among office workers six months after they were exposed to a building with an improved ventilation system. The objective of the present study was to find whether the decrease in the prevalence of symptoms was maintained three years later. METHODS Workers from...

PURPOSE The purposes of this clinical perspective paper are (1) to expand physical therapists' awareness to the topic of air quality as a health priority when providing professional services; and (2) to provide templates for screening the indoor clinical environments and patient profiles to avert respiratory exacerbations, especially in persons with asthma. SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS The location ...

PURPOSE To investigate the relationships between symptoms compatible with the sick building syndrome (SBS) in adults and building dampness and ventilation in single-family houses. METHODS Within the Swedish BETSI study, a national sample of single-family houses were inspected by professional building experts, and adults living in the houses answered a questionnaire on SBS. Relationships betwe...