Sick Building Syndrome and Other Building-Related Illnesses

Abstract

Outbreaks of building-related illnesses, collectively termed as sick building syndrome (SBS) among building occupants reported in the recent decades, draw remarkable resemblance to early events of epidemic hysteria. Tarantism, the dancing mania of peasant women (animal-like squealing, obscene shouting, laughing, or weeping) during the fifteenth to seventeenth century, St. John's or St. Vitus' dances in Northern Europe, the hysterical fits of women due to smells from hemp steeped in water (Ramazzini 1713), industrial outbreak among workers in a cotton mill in the eighteenth century England (Gentleman's Magazine 1787), are historically recorded events. Many other early psychogenic illnesses reported from schools, hospitals, prisons, and in warfare, exemplify the results of various reasons, like prominent social concerns and exposure to physical, biological, or chemical agents (Bartholomew and Wessely 2002; Sirois 2013). The SBS manifests as the complex spectrum of ill health symptoms, such as mucous membrane irritation (rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, sore throat, eye irritation), asthma symptoms (chest tightness, wheezing), neurotoxic effects (a headache, fatigue, irritability), gastrointestinal disturbance, skin dryness, sensitivity to odours. These symptoms may appear among occupants in office buildings, schools, public buildings, hospitals, and recreational facilities. The rapid spread of symptoms often leads to the virtual closure of the facility, and resolution of the illness also takes place within a short time after leaving the facility (Laumbach 2008; Takeda et al. 2009). Building-related illnesses have been viewed as ubiquitous in modern high-rise buildings. These are designed to be airtight on energy-saving considerationwindows remain sealed, deprived of natural ventilation and daylighting, and HVAC system re-circulates the air in the building, with the minimal replacement of fresh air. Concerns about human health due to deteriorating indoor environmental quality are steadily increasing with a public outcry among the building occupants and also

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