TY - CPAPER
KW - Sick building syndrome (SBS)
KW - Ventilation
KW - Logistic regression
KW - Dose-response
AU - Michael G Apte
AU - William J Fisk
AU - Joan M Daisey
AB - <p>Relationships between indoor carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) levels and mucous membrane and lower respiratory sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms are explored in 41 office buildings from the US EPA BASE study. Elevated indoor CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations may indicate inadequate ventilation per occupant and elevated indoor pollutant concentrations, leading to SBS symptoms. Two CO<sub>2</sub> metrics were constructed: average workday indoor minus average outdoor CO<sub>2</sub> (dCO<sub>2</sub>, range 6-418 ppm), and maximum indoor one-hour moving average CO<sub>2</sub> minus outdoor CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations (dCO<sub>2</sub>MAX). Multivariate logistic regressions quantified dCO<sub>2</sub>/SBS symptom associations, adjusting for personal and environmental factors. A dose-response relationship (p&lt;0.05) with odds ratios per 100 ppm dCO<sub>2</sub> ranging from 1.2 to 1.5 for sore throat, nose/sinus, tight chest, and wheezing was observed. The dCO<sub>2</sub>MAX/SBS regression results were similar. Implications: large increases in ventilation rate or improvements in ventilation effectiveness and/or indoor pollutant source control would be expected to decrease the prevalence of selected symptoms by up to 70-85%.</p>
BT - Healthy Buildings 2000, August 6-10, 2000
C2 - LBNL-45019
CY - Espoo, Finland
DA - 08/2000
LA - eng
N2 - <p>Relationships between indoor carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) levels and mucous membrane and lower respiratory sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms are explored in 41 office buildings from the US EPA BASE study. Elevated indoor CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations may indicate inadequate ventilation per occupant and elevated indoor pollutant concentrations, leading to SBS symptoms. Two CO<sub>2</sub> metrics were constructed: average workday indoor minus average outdoor CO<sub>2</sub> (dCO<sub>2</sub>, range 6-418 ppm), and maximum indoor one-hour moving average CO<sub>2</sub> minus outdoor CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations (dCO<sub>2</sub>MAX). Multivariate logistic regressions quantified dCO<sub>2</sub>/SBS symptom associations, adjusting for personal and environmental factors. A dose-response relationship (p&lt;0.05) with odds ratios per 100 ppm dCO<sub>2</sub> ranging from 1.2 to 1.5 for sore throat, nose/sinus, tight chest, and wheezing was observed. The dCO<sub>2</sub>MAX/SBS regression results were similar. Implications: large increases in ventilation rate or improvements in ventilation effectiveness and/or indoor pollutant source control would be expected to decrease the prevalence of selected symptoms by up to 70-85%.</p>
PP - Espoo, Finland
PY - 2000
T2 - Healthy Buildings 2000, August 6-10, 2000
T3 - Healthy Buildings 2000, August 6-10, 2000
TI - Indoor Carbon Dioxide Concentrations and SBS in Office Workers
ER -