Relationship between sick building syndrome and indoor environmental factors in newly built Japanese dwellings

Takeda, Makoto; Saijo, Yasuaki; Yuasa, Motoyuki; Kanazawa, Ayako; Araki, Atsuko; Kishi, Reiko

doi:10.1007/s00420-009-0395-8

Cited by 94 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In Taipei office buildings, the dampness index had significantly increased ORs for eye irritation, cough, and lethargy/fatigue [34]. Moreover, several studies of Japanese dwellings reported that the dampness index had significantly increased ORs for SBS symptoms [15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dampness, food habits, and sick building syndrome symptoms in elementary school pupils

Saijo

Nakagi

Ito

et al. 2010

Environ Health Prev Med

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Objectives We investigated dampness/mold in schools and dwellings, and food habits and subjective symptoms in elementary school pupils, in order to clarify the effect of dampness and food habits on subjective symptoms in elementary school pupils. Methods Questionnaires were used to investigate dampness in classrooms and dwellings in Hokkaido, Japan, and its effect on subjective symptoms in 1,077 pupils in 8 elementary schools. We used a dampness index for both the home and classroom; the index was the sum of the presence of four dampness indicators: (1) visible mold, (2) moldy odor, (3) water leakage, and (4) condensation on windowpanes. The questionnaire also contained queries about food habits, as follows: the frequency of eating breakfast, whether the energy provided by the school lunch was sufficient, and whether eating too many snacks and/or sweets were consumed. Adjusted logistic regression was used to determine whether dampness and food habits were related to the subjective symptoms. Results In fully adjusted models, the home dampness index was significantly related to cough, general symptoms, and having at least one symptom; the classroom dampness index was significantly related to nasal symptoms. In addition, usually not eating breakfast was significantly related to eye symptoms, and too many snacks and/or sweets was significantly related to eye, nasal, and general symptoms. Conclusions Both home and classroom dampness can affect pupils' health. Home dampness, in particular, was significantly related to cough and general symptoms, and classroom dampness was significantly related to nasal symptoms. Furthermore, favorable food habits have a positive effect on pupils' subjective symptoms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also have reported the significant relation of this dampness index to SBS symptoms in newly built dwellings [15][16][17] and public apartment houses [18]. However, to our knowledge, there has been no report on the simultaneous evaluation of home and school dampness and their association with children's health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Dampness, food habits, and sick building syndrome symptoms in elementary school pupils

Saijo

Nakagi

Ito

et al. 2010

Environ Health Prev Med

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“…This phenomenon may stimulate the appearance of respiratory illness such as asthma in occupants (Choi, Schmidbauer, and Bornehag 2017;Norbäck et al 2017;Wang et al 2017). Takeda et al (2009) identified dampness as one of the critical factors associated with SBS symptoms in newly built dwellings. Similarly, Zhang et al (2012) identified the damp and mouldy environment as a simulator for occurrence of SBS symptoms, as the presence of occupants in these environments can increase the incidence of work-related symptoms, whilst the possibility for remission may decrease.…”

Section: Tssa (2010)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sick building syndrome: are we doing enough?

AlWaer

Omrany

Ghaffarianhoseini

et al. 2018

Architectural Science Review

178

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Health and well-being are vitally important aspects of people centric building design and are the roots of productivity. Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a collection of factors that can negatively affect physical health in several ways. Besides physical health is also related to psychological well-being because the human body is one interactive biological system. This paper focuses on reviewing the current state of knowledge on building sickness syndrome which has been prevalent as a building illness since the 1970s especially in offices and schools. While the concepts of intelligent, smart and sustainable buildings have gained considerable attention during recent decades, there is now increasing attention being given to designing healthy buildings. This study provides a review about SBS symptoms. Several negative effects of SBS are identified and potential solutions are advocated. Finally, the study stresses the role of built environment and concludes that ongoing research towards tackling SBS and developing healthy indoor environments should not be limited to a single formula as any health-related building design approach is dependent on several interacting factors. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…One study from Osaka found that indoor concentration of limonene, tolualdehyde, 2-pentanone, tetrachloroethylene, n-decane n-heptane and TVOC were higher in homes where the subjects reported SBS (Nakayama and Morimoto, 2009). One study in newly built detached houses in Sapporo found that formaldehyde and alfa-pinene concentration in indoor air were higher in homes with SBS (Takeda et al, 2009). One larger study in newly built dwellings in six prefectures from northern to southern Japan found that formaldehyde, but not specific VOC or TVOC, were associated with SBS (Takigawa et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volatile organic compounds (VOC), formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) in schools in Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Associations with rhinitis, ocular, throat and dermal symptoms, headache and fatigue

Norbäck

Hashim

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

101

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• Xylene, formaldehyde and NO 2 in schools in Malaysia can be associated with fatigue among students.• Formaldehyde and NO 2 in the classrooms can be associated with ocular symptoms.• The indoor and outdoor levels of benzene were often above the EU standard for ambient air. This paper studied associations between volatile organic compounds (VOC), formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in schools in Malaysia and rhinitis, ocular, nasal and dermal symptoms, headache and fatigue among students. Pupils from eight randomly selected junior high schools in Johor Bahru, Malaysia (N = 462), participated (96%). VOC, formaldehyde and NO 2 were measured by diffusion sampling (one week) and VOC also by pumped air sampling during class. Associations were calculated by multi-level logistic regression adjusting for personal factors, the home environment and microbial compounds in the school dust. The prevalence of weekly rhinitis, ocular, throat and dermal symptoms were 18.8%, 11.6%, 15.6%, and 11.1%, respectively. Totally 20.6% had weekly headache and 22.1% fatigue. Indoor CO 2 were low (range 380-690 ppm). Indoor median NO 2 and formaldehyde concentrations over one week were 23 μg/m 3 and 2.0 μg/m G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Contents lists available at ScienceDirectScience of the Total Environment j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s c i t o t e n v in schools can be risk factors for ocular and throat symptoms and fatigue among students in Malaysia. The indoor and outdoor levels of benzene were often higher than the EU standard of 5 μg/m 3 .

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Relationship between sick building syndrome and indoor environmental factors in newly built Japanese dwellings

Abstract: Dampness, formaldehyde, and alpha-pinene were significantly related to SBS symptoms in newly built dwellings. We should, therefore, take measures to reduce the chemicals and dampness in dwellings.

Cited by 94 publications

References 46 publications

Dampness, food habits, and sick building syndrome symptoms in elementary school pupils

Dampness, food habits, and sick building syndrome symptoms in elementary school pupils

Sick building syndrome: are we doing enough?

Volatile organic compounds (VOC), formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) in schools in Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Associations with rhinitis, ocular, throat and dermal symptoms, headache and fatigue

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