- "(Sick building syndrome) was first recognised in
1982 and is estimated to affect 80 per cent of people who work in air-conditioned
offices."
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- Millions of people who suffer from sick building syndrome
could be cured if ultraviolet lights were installed in office ventilation
systems, according to a new study.
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- The lights kill the germs in the environment that cause
people to develop ailments at work.
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- So-called sick building syndrome (SBS) is caused by the
increasing use of air conditioning in modern offices. Bacteria can build
up in the ventilation systems and leave office workers suffering from a
range of problems, such as breathing difficulties, headaches, sore throats,
stuffy noses and itchy eyes.
-
- SBS was first recognised in 1982 and is estimated to
affect 80 per cent of people who work in air-conditioned offices.
-
- The study into ultraviolet lights was published in the
medical journal The Lancet today.
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- Researchers from the Montreal Chest Institute in Canada
tested three offices in the city where people suffered from SBS. They installed
UVGI (ultraviolet germicidal irradiation) in the ventilation systems of
the buildings and compared reports of illness when the lights were turned
on with sickness rates when they were off.
-
- The lights resulted in a 20 per cent reduction in all
symptoms. There were 40 per cent fewer complaints about respiratory problems
and a 30 per cent reduction in people complaining of stuffy noses. Muscular
complaints also halved, according to the study.
-
- Scientists said the UVGI killed the bacteria and molds
in ventilation systems. Installing the systems would be relatively cheap
and could save companies millions by reducing rates of sickness.
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- Dick Menzies, the lead researcher, said: "Installation
of UVGI in most North American offices could resolve work-related symptoms
in about four million employees caused by microbial contamination of heating,
ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
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- "The cost of UVGI installation could, in the long
run, prove cost effective compared with the yearly losses from absence
because of building related illness." Around 70 per cent of people
in the West now work in air-conditioned offices, and SBS is estimated to
cost companies millions of pounds a year in reduced productivity and sick
days.
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=467957
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