People can detect poor air quality well below guideline concentrations: a prevalence study of annoyance reactions and air pollution from traffic.

Forsberg, Bertil; Stjernberg, N; Wall, Stig

doi:10.1136/oem.54.1.44

Cited by 91 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…These results do, however, not necessarily apply to the office condition, since the removal rate of pollutants by plants is much slower than that of an optimally functioning ventilation system [11]. On the other hand, a minor change in the content of air contaminants might have a positive influence on the employees' perception of comfort [12] and thereby result in a lower score for the reported health and discomfort symptoms. The symptoms chosen for this study are known to be affected by indoor air quality [2,9,13,14].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The subjects completed a questionnaire every 2nd week about 12 different health symptoms during two spring periods of 3 months in 1995 and 1996. The questionnaire, which was modified after Anderson et al [9], included questions on the following 12 symptoms: (1) fatigue, (2) feeling heavy-headed, (3) headache, (4) nausea/drowsiness, (5) concentration problems, (6) itching, burning, irritation of the eyes, (7) irritated, stuffy or 'running' nose, (8) hoarse, dry throat, (9) cough, (10) dry or flushed facial skin, (11) scaling/itching scalp or ears, (12) hands with dry, itching, or red skin. Each symptom could be given one of the following scores: 0 (no problems), 1 (minor problems), 2 (moderate problems) or 3 (severe problems).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effect of Indoor Foliage Plants on Health and Discomfort Symptoms among Office Workers

Fjeld¹,

Veiersted²,

Sandvik³

et al. 1998

Indoor Built Environ

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Indoor plantings are widely used in building environments though little is known regarding the way office workers respond to indoor foliage plants. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of foliage plants in the office on health and symptoms of discomfort among office personnel. A cross-over study with randomised period order was conducted; one period with plants in the office and one period without. A questionnaire consisting of 12 questions related to neuropsychological symptoms, mucous membrane symptoms and skin symptoms was distributed among the 51 healthy subjects who participated in the study. It was found that the score sum of symptoms was 23% lower during the period when subjects had plants in their offices compared to the control period. (Mean score sum was 7.1 during the period without plants vs. 5.6 during the period with plants.) Complaints regarding cough and fatigue were reduced by 37 and 30%, respectively, if the offices contained plants. The self-reported level of dry/hoarse throat and dry/itching facial skin each decreased approximately 23% when plants were present. Overall, a significant reduction was obtained in neuropsychological symptoms and mucous membrane symptoms, while skin symptoms seemed to be unaffected by the presence of plants. The results from this study suggest that an improvement in health and a reduction in symptoms of discomfort may be obtained after introduction of foliage plants into the office environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Indoor Foliage Plants on Health and Discomfort Symptoms among Office Workers

Fjeld¹,

Veiersted²,

Sandvik³

et al. 1998

Indoor Built Environ

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show abstract

“…However, in another Swedish study, correlations were demonstrated between respiratory symptoms in symptomatic adults and daily variations in relatively low concentrations of NO 2 [32]. In addition, in a Swedish cross-sectional study with population samples from 55 towns and cities, annoyance reactions [33] as well as frequent respiratory symptoms [11] were associated with six-monthly average concentrations of NO 2 , while NO 2 was nonsignificant in a similar diary study from Piteå [8]. However, the NO 2 concentration was 1.5-fold higher in Landskrona than in Piteå.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily air pollution levels and acute asthma in southern Sweden

Forsberg

Stjernberg²,

R³

et al. 1998

Eur Respir J

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Asthmatics have been shown to be greatly affected by environmental exposure. Both experimental [1] and epidemiological studies [2] have shown air pollution to aggravate asthma problems. Concern about the possible adverse respiratory effects of major ambient air pollutants has stimulated investigators to attempt to relate effects to lower and lower concentrations in the search for minimum concentrations at which adverse effects on health are detectable. As a result of such studies, even in relatively weakly polluted areas, the guidelines and limits for several pollutants are now under revision and acceptable limits from a health point of view are expected to be set at increasingly lower levels.Daily diaries of respiratory health are very useful in studies of the effects of air pollution on susceptible persons, particularly in smaller cities and towns where studies of hospitalization or mortality would provide very small numbers. Diary studies, which are often referred to as panel studies, have become common in the study of air pollution and respiratory effects [2][3][4]. Diary information includes health-related endpoints such as exacerbations of asthma, other symptoms, peak flow and airway medication in different combinations [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Environmental data must include not only air pollution levels but also factors that could operate as confounders. One advantage of the diary studies is that potential confounders are limited to those that can co-vary with ambient pollution concentrations over time, e.g. humidity, temperature and pollen concentrations. The typical confounding factors from crosssectional studies, such as socioeconomic status and smoking habits, do not pose any problems in these studies.Analysis of frequencies of symptoms and medication use can be based on time series of diary data from individuals in a panel or averaged daily prevalence or incidence rates for the panel. Regardless of the method used, it is necessary to address the problem of state dependence in the health variables to avoid underestimation of the standard error for the parameter estimates [5]. If a person has a symptom one day, they will probably present with the same symptom the next day, which accounts for the relatively frequent occurrence of autocorrelation of daily prevalences. A problem with averaged symptom data is the occurrence of missing responses or exclusions due to time spent outside the study area, which leads to daily prevalences based on a varying panel composition, without any relevant adjustments.This report presents data from a study of acute respiratory problems among people with asthma or asthma-like problems and their relation to variations in low air pollution concentrations in the southern Swedish city of Landskrona, which has a relatively mild winter climate. Methods Study populationLandskrona is a city on the coast in southern Sweden with approximately 30,000 residents. It is situated close to several larger cities. The air in Landskrona is affected by emissions from traffic on a major high...

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“…With respect to environmental health it is important to understand how soundscapes are affected by exposures to other ambient stressors such as air pollution. To this end, previous research has also demonstrated doseeresponse relationships between common air pollutants and odour annoyance at exposure levels well below most regulatory guidelines (Atari et al, 2012;Forsberg et al, 1997;Klaeboe et al, 2008). Taken together with the soundscape perspective and previously demonstrated noise annoyance dose-responses, this suggests that there may be an interaction effect between noise and odours on noise annoyance and that absolute levels of noise annoyance depend on environmental context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Place effects on noise annoyance: Cumulative exposures, odour annoyance and noise sensitivity as mediators of environmental context

Oiamo

Baxter

Grgicak‐Mannion

et al. 2015

Atmospheric Environment

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People can detect poor air quality well below guideline concentrations: a prevalence study of annoyance reactions and air pollution from traffic.

Cited by 91 publications

References 13 publications

The Effect of Indoor Foliage Plants on Health and Discomfort Symptoms among Office Workers

The Effect of Indoor Foliage Plants on Health and Discomfort Symptoms among Office Workers

Daily air pollution levels and acute asthma in southern Sweden

Place effects on noise annoyance: Cumulative exposures, odour annoyance and noise sensitivity as mediators of environmental context

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