Sick Building Syndrome Symptoms among the Staff in Schools and Kindergartens: are the Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds and Carbon Dioxide Responsible?

Abstract

From a large questionnaire-based survey investigating the indoor air quality (IAQ) in 48 schools and 74 kindergartens, 21 schools were selected for mea surements of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) based on the prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms reported by the staff. The 10 schools with the lowest prevalence of SBS symptoms 'healthy') were compared to 11 schools with the highest prevalence ('sick'; median value showing twice as many SBS symptoms reported). The concen trations of total VOCs (TVOC) in schools and kindergartens were low and within suggested guidelines. The levels of CO₂ were higher than suggested guidelines in several cases. However, neither TVOC nor CO₂ concentrations were associated with SBS symptoms. Thus, TVOC and CO₂ concentrations do not seem to be useful as SBS risk indicators.

Keywords

Sick building syndrome Schools Kindergartens Volatile organic compounds Carbon dioxide

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