Problem buildings - Indoor Environmental Quality - page 196

Table 7.1 Frequency of Reported

Symptoms in NIOSH Building

Investigations
Symptom

% of buildings

Eye irritation 81

Dry throat 71

Headache 67

Fatigue 53

Sinus congestion 51

Skin irritation 38

Shortness of breath 33

Cough 24

Dizziness 22

Nausea 15

Source: From Wallingford, K.M. and Carpenter,

J., Proc. IAQ '86: Managing Indoor Air for Health

and Energy Conserv.,

American Society of Heat-
ing, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engi-
neers, Atlanta, 448, 1986. With permission.

tive teams are comprised of an epidemiologist, industrial hygienist, and
HVAC system engineer or technician. Summary reports have been published
periodically. Buildings investigated have included schools, universities and
colleges, health-care facilities, and private offices.
In many NIOSH investigations, symptom complaints were subjective
and not attributable to a specific causal agent. Reported symptoms have
included headache; eye, nose, throat, and skin irritation; fatigue; a variety
of respiratory symptoms such as sinus congestion, sneezing, cough, and
shortness of breath; and, less frequently, nausea and dizziness. The frequen-
cies of reported symptoms in several hundred building investigations are
summarized in Table 7.1 . In a large percentage of cases (>50%), occupants
reported eye irritation, dry throat, sinus congestion, headache, and fatigue.
The former three are described as mucous membrane symptoms; the latter
two as general (or neurotoxic) symptoms.
Major problem types identified in over 500 NIOSH building investiga-
tions are briefly summarized in Table 7.2 . Inadequate ventilation was an
IAQ/IE concern in >50% of buildings investigated. Inadequate ventilation
was determined by reference to a guideline value of 1000 ppmv carbon
dioxide (CO

). Other ventilation problems included poor air distribution and
mixing, draftiness, pressure differences among building spaces, and filtration
problems caused by inadequate maintenance.
Indoor air quality problems due to indoor sources included exposures
associated with office equipment, e.g., methanol from spirit duplicators, butyl
methacrylate from signature machines, and ammonia and acetic acid from
blueprint machines. Other contamination problems included misapplied pes-
ticides, boiler additives in steam humidification units, combustion gases from
cafeterias and laboratories, and cross-contamination between building zones.

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