Environmental risk factors for subjective symptoms associated with sick building syndrome

Sci Total Environ. 2009 Sep 15;407(19):5223-8. Epub 2009 Jul 15.

A longitudinal study of environmental risk factors for subjective symptoms associated with sick building syndrome in new dwellings.

Takigawa T, Wang BL, Sakano N, Wang DH, Ogino K, Kishi R. Department of Public Health, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558 Okayama, Japan. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This study was performed to explore possible environmental risk factors, including indoor chemicals, mold, and dust mite allergens, which could cause sick building syndrome (SBS)-type symptoms in new houses. The study was conducted in 2004 and 2005 and the final study population consisted of 86 men and 84 women residing in Okayama, Japan. The indoor concentrations of indoor aldehydes, volatile organic compounds, airborne fungi, and dust mite allergens in their living rooms were measured and the longitudinal changes in two consecutive years were calculated. A standardized questionnaire was used concomitantly to gather information on frequency of SBS-type symptoms and lifestyle habits. About 10% of the subjects suffered from SBS in the both years. Crude analyses indicated tendencies for aldehyde levels to increase frequently and markedly in the newly diseased and ongoing SBS groups. Among the chemical factors and molds examined, increases in benzene and in Aspergillus contributed to the occurrence of SBS in the logistic regression model. Indoor chemicals were the main contributors to subjective symptoms associated with SBS. A preventive strategy designed to lower exposure to indoor chemicals may be able to counter the occurrence of SBS.

PMID: 19608217 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]