Occupational and Environmental Risk Factors for the Sick Building Syndrome in Modern Offices in Istanbul: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

In this study we aimed to research the frequency of and possible risk factors for sick building syndrome (SBS) in indoor workplaces in Istanbul. The investigation was carried out in 50 non-governmental bank offices: 25 had a central ventilation system (the study group) and 25 a local ventilation system (the control group). Clinical outcomes were estimated by a standardised questionnaire completed by employees. In addition, the level of indoor gaseous pollutants and bio-aerosols (micro-fungi and bacteria) were measured. The most prevalent bio-aerosols found in the study offices were high densities of Penicillium and Aspergillus spores in contrast to the control offices where the predominant species were Cladasporium and Alternia spores. Findings of SBS were relatively increased in those working in buildings with a central air conditioning system (OR ϭ 1.68; 95% CI: 1.04-2.70); in those working for less than 3 years in the building (OR ϭ 1.91; 95% CI: 1.18-3.09); in those operating a photocopier frequently (OR ϭ 1.70; 95% CI: 1.15-2.53); in women (OR ϭ 1.78; 95% CI: 1.21-2.63) and in those with workplace dissatisfaction (OR ϭ 2.06; 95% CI: 1.40-3.05).

Sick building syndrome (SBS) among office workers in a Malaysian university — Associations with atopy, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and the office environment

“…Some studies on SBS among office workers have been carried out in tropical countries, such as in Turkey (Gül et al, 2007), Brazil (Costa and Brickus, 2000;Graudenz et al, 2002Graudenz et al, , 2005Rios et al, 2009), Mauritius (Bholah and Subratty, 2002), Taiwan (Wan and Li, 1999) and Singapore (Ooi et al, 1998;Ooi and Goh, 1997). However, only a few office studies on SBS among office workers have been published from Malaysia.…”

Microbiological Evaluation of Indoor Air of Kindergartens in Fatih District of Istanbul

“…Different threshold values were reported in various studies on this matter [25–27]. Bush and Portnoy accepted 1000 m 3 and above as the contamination limit for indoor spore levels, whereas Patuska and colleagues accepted 300 CFU·m −3 as limit level for bacteria [28]. According to the valid “Environment Health-Precautions for Indoor Air” standard of Turkish Standards Institute (TSI), the indoor concentration of fungi spores should not exceed 1000 CFU·m −3 [29].…”

Sick building syndrome in open‐plan offices

“…However, the selected indoor variables were not reliable predictors of the symptoms. An investigation was conducted in centrally ventilated and locally ventilated office buildings in Istanbul (Gül et al, 2007). SBS symptoms were relatively increased in people those who worked in buildings with a central air conditioning system, those who frequently operated a photocopier, and those with workplace dissatisfaction.…”

“…Poor indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is often blamed for causing SBS. Although it is difficult to determine the single cause of a particular symptom, interdisciplinary studies (Berglund and Lindvall, 1986;Hedge et al, 1989;Au Yeung et al, 1991;Burge, 1992;Apter et al, 1994;Bachmann and Myers, 1995;Hedge et al, 1995;Burt, 1996;Crawford and Bolas, 1996;Ooi et al, 1998;Bholah et al, 2000;Berglund et al, 2002;Cheong et al, 2006;Gül et al, 2007;Gupta et al, 2007) explored the prevalence of SBS in office buildings and related it to specific indoor environmental conditions. These studies showed a wide variance in the prevalence of SBS symptoms.…”