biology

Sick building syndrome

Sick building syndrome is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sick building syndrome rather than just read about it. In short: Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a condition in which people develop symptoms of illness or become infected with chronic disease from the building in which they work or reside. In scientific literature, SBS is also known as building-related illness (BRI), building-related symptoms (BRS), or idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI).

Key takeaways

Sick building syndrome belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sick building syndrome to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sick building syndrome from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a condition in which people develop symptoms of illness or become infected with chronic disease from the building in which they work or reside. In scientific literature, SBS is also known as building-related illness (BRI), building-related symptoms (BRS), or idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI). The main identifying observation is an increased incidence of complaints of such symptoms as headache, eye, nose, and throat irritation, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea. The 1989 Oxford English Dictionary defines SBS in that way. The World Health Organization created a 484-page tome on indoor air quality in 1984, when SBS was attributed only to non-organic causes, and suggested that the book might form a basis for legislation or litigation. The outbreaks may or may not be a direct result of inadequate or inappropriate cleaning. SBS has also been used to describe staff concerns in post-war buildings with faulty building aerodynamics, construction materials, construction process, and maintenance. Some symptoms tend to increase in severity with the time people spend in the building, often improving or even disappearing when people are away from the building. The term SBS is also used interchangeably with "building-related symptoms", which orients the name of the condition around patients' symptoms rather than a "sick" building. Attempts have been made to connect sick building syndrome to various causes, such as contaminants produced by outgassing of some building materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC), improper exhaust ventilation of ozone (produced by the operation of some office machines), light industrial chemicals used within, and insufficient fresh-air intake or air filtration (see "Minimum efficiency reporting value"). Sick building syndrome has also been attributed to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, an attribution about which there are inconsistent findings.

Signs and symptoms

Human exposure to aerosols has a variety of adverse health effects. Building occupants complain of symptoms such as sensory irritation of the eyes, nose, or throat, neurotoxic or general health problems, skin irritation, nonspecific hypersensitivity reactions, infectious diseases, and odor and taste sensations. Poor lighting has caused general malaise. Extrinsic allergic alveolitis has been associated with the presence of fungi and bacteria in the moist air of residential houses and commercial offices. A study in 2017 correlated several inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract with objective evidence of damp-caused damage in homes. The WHO has classified the reported symptoms into broad categories, including mucous-membrane irritation (eye, nose, and throat irritation), neurotoxic effects (headaches, fatigue, and irritability), asthma and asthma-like symptoms (chest tightness and wheezing), skin dryness and irritation, and gastrointestinal complaints. Several sick occupants may report individual symptoms that do not seem connected. The key to discovery is the increased incidence of illnesses in general with onset or exacerbation in a short period, usually weeks. In most cases, SBS symptoms are relieved soon after the occupants leave the particular room or zone. However, there can be lingering effects of various neurotoxins, which may not clear up when the occupant leaves the building. In some cases, including those of sensitive people, there are long-term health effects.

Cause ASHRAE has recognized that polluted urban air, designated within the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s air quality ratings as unacceptable, requires the installation of treatment such as filtration for which the HVAC practitioners generally apply carbon-impregnated filters and their likes. Different toxins will aggravate the human body in different ways. Some people are more allergic to mold, while others are highly sensitive to dust. Inadequate ventilation will exaggerate small problems (such as deteriorating fiberglass insulation or cooking fumes) into a much more serious indoor air quality problem. Common products such as paint, insulation, rigid foam, particle board, plywood, duct liners, exhaust fumes and other chemical contaminants from indoor or outdoor sources, and biological contaminants can be trapped inside by the HVAC system. As this air is recycled using fan coils the overall oxygenation ratio drops and becomes harmful. When combined with other stress factors such as traffic noise and poor lighting, inhabitants of buildings located in a polluted urban area can quickly become ill as their immune system is overwhelmed. Certain VOCs, considered toxic chemical contaminants to humans, are used as adhesives in many common building construction products. These aromatic carbon rings / VOCs can cause acute and chronic health effects in the occupants of a building, including cancer, paralysis, lung failure, and others. Bacterial spores, fungal spores, mold spores, pollen, and viruses are types of biological contaminants and can all cause allergic reactions or illness described as SBS. In addition, pollution from outdoors, such as motor vehicle exhaust, can enter buildings, worsen indoor air quality, and increase the indoor concentration of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Adult SBS symptoms were associated with a history of allergic rhinitis, eczema, and asthma. A 2015 study concerning the association of SBS and indoor air pollutants in office buildings in Iran found that, as carbon dioxide increased in a building, nausea, headaches, nasal irritation, dyspnea, and throat dryness also rose. Some work conditions have been correlated with specific symptoms: brighter light, for example was significantly related to skin dryness, eye pain, and malaise. Higher temperature is correlated with sneezing, skin redness, itchy eyes, and headache; lower relative humidity has been associated with sneezing, skin redness, and eye pain. In 1973, in response to the oil crisis and conservation concerns, ASHRAE Standards 62-73 and 62-81 reduced required ventilation from 10 cubic feet per minute (4.7 L/s) per person to 5 cubic feet per minute (2.4 L/s) per person, but this was found to contribute to sick building syndrome. As of the 2016 revision, ASHRAE ventilation standards call for 5 to 10 cubic feet per minute of ventilation per occupant (depending on the occupancy type) in addition to ventilation based on the zone floor area delivered to the breathing zone.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sick building syndrome

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sick building syndrome claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sick building syndrome before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sick building syndrome ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sick building syndrome

In research: Sick building syndrome appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sick building syndrome in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sick building syndrome is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Building biology, Building defects, Environmental toxicology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sick building syndrome outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sick building syndrome in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sick building syndrome means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sick building syndrome out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sick building syndrome in simple terms?

Why does Sick building syndrome matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sick building syndrome?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sick building syndrome.