Year: 1991
Type: report
Abstract: In most episodes of health complaints reported in office buildings in the last-twenty years, causal factors have not been identified. In order to assess risk factors for work-related symptoms in office workers, a reanalysis was performed of previous studies, and an epidemiologic study was conducted. The reanalysis of data, showed remarkable agreement among studies. Air-conditioned buildings were consistently associated with higher prevalence of headache, lethargy, and eye, nose, or throat problems. Humidification was not a necessary factor for this higher prevalence. Mechanical ventilation without air-conditioning was not associated with higher symptom prevalence. A study was conducted among 880 office workers, within 12 office buildings selected without regard to worker complaints, in northern California. A number of factors were found associated with prevalence of work-related symptoms, after adjustment in a logistic regression model for personal, psychosocial, job, workspace, and building factors. Two different ventilation types were associated with increases Ln symptom prevalence, relative to workers in naturally ventilated buildings: mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation, without air conditioning and with operable windows; and air-conditioning with sealed windows. No study buildings were humidified. In both these ventilation types, the highest odds ratios (ORs) found were for skin symptoms (ORs-5.0, 5.6) and for tight chest or difficulty breathing (ORs-3.6, 4.3). Use of carbonless copies or photocopiers, sharing a workspace, carpets, new carpets, new walls, and distance from a window were associated with symptom increases. Cloth partitions and new paint were associated with symptom decreases.
DOI: 10.2172/10185220
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2313546833