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Were volatile organic compounds the inducing factors for subjective symptoms of employees working in newly constructed hospitals?
Author(s) -
Takigawa Tomoko,
Horike Tokushi,
Ohashi Yasuhiro,
Kataoka Hiroyuki,
Wang DaHong,
Kira Shohei
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/tox.20035
Subject(s) - sick building syndrome , christian ministry , environmental health , relocation , toxicology , medicine , logistic regression , mean value , guideline , indoor air quality , office workers , occupational exposure , environmental science , environmental engineering , biology , philosophy , statistics , operations management , theology , mathematics , pathology , computer science , economics , programming language
This study demonstrated possible relationships between environmental, personal, and occupational factors and changes in the subjective health symptoms of 214 employees after the relocation of a hospital in a region of Japan. Eight indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were detected in at least one of the 19 rooms investigated, and total VOC (TVOC) concentrations in 8 rooms exceeded the advisable value (400 μg/m 3 ) established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. Formaldehyde was detected in all the investigated rooms, but none of the results exceeded the guideline value (100 μg/m 3 ). Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to select variables significantly associated with the subjective symptoms that can be induced by sick building syndrome. The results showed that subjective symptoms of deterioration in the skin, eye, ear, throat, chest, central nervous system, autonomic system, musculoskeletal system, and digestive system among employees were associated mainly with gender difference and high TVOC concentrations (>1200 μg/m 3 ). Long work hours (>50 h per week) in females and smoking in males were to be blamed for the deterioration of their symptoms. The present findings suggest that to protect employees from indoor environment‐related adverse health effects, it is necessary to reduce the concentration of indoor chemicals in new buildings, to decrease work hours, and to forbid smoking. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 19: 280–290, 2004.