Sick building syndrome in an office building formerly used by a pharmaceutical company: a case study

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Sick building syndrome in an office building formerly used by a

pharmaceutical company: a case study.

Engelhart S; Burghardt H; Neumann R; Ewers U; Exner M; Kramer MH

Hygiene-Institut der Universitat Bonn, Germany. engel@...

Indoor Air 1999 Jun; 9 (2): 139-43

ABST: In the past two decades, a group of health problems related to the

indoor environment -- generally termed sick building syndrome (SBS) -- has

emerged. We present an investigation of SBS in employees of a ministry

working in a naturally ventilated office building that formerly had been

used by a pharmaceutical company. A preceding environmental monitoring had

failed to identify the cause(s) for the complaints. We conducted a

questionnaire-based investigation and categorized the building sections and

rooms according to their renovation status and their former use,

respectively. The highest level of complaints was found among the employees

working in rooms that in the past had been used for the production or

storage of various pharmaceutical products suggesting that pharmaceutical

odors may be a risk factor for SBS. Clinical laboratory tests did not show

any unusual results. We conclude that the former use of a building for

production and storage of pharmaceutical products should be considered as a

possible risk factor for complaints about indoor air quality, e.g., when

advising about or planning for renovations of buildings formerly used for

production, handling, or storing of chemicals.