Correlating the symptoms of sick-building syndrome to indoor VOCs concentration levels and odour

In this study, the correlation between the sum of VOCs(C2-C16) including aldehydes (VOCs) and SBS symptoms were examined by statistics. The odour was quantified using the odour threshold ratio (OTR) and the correlation between the total odour threshold ratio (TOTR: sum of the OTR) and SBS symptoms was investigated. These correlations were examined separately for sensitive and insensitive groups. TOTR and the concentration level of VOCs were correlated with SBS symptoms among sensitive people. The findings indicate that TOTR, in addition to VOCs, could be used as a new risk indicator for human health regarding indoor air quality.

Source: Indoor and Built Environment - September 11, 2014 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Nakaoka, H., Todaka, E., Seto, H., Saito, I., Hanazato, M., Watanabe, M., Mori, C. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research