English

States that failures in electronic equipment can be caused by volatile organic compounds. Detailed observations from a three year study of VOCs at a telephone switching office in Neenah, Wisconsin, USA are presented and data are included on matched indoor and outdoor VOC measurements, and corresponding data on HVAC fan operation and ventilation rates. The small number of occupants in the office enabled the study to assess factors influencing VOC levels without complications of human behaviour.

The study aimed to evaluate the emission of volatile organic compounds from air filters. In the first part of the project, carbonyl compounds were measured by reacting them with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine. HPLC and UV detection were used for the analysis. Laboratory experiments used pieces of used and unused HVAC filters, incubated in test chambers. The used filters used in the experiments were from a filter bank of a large HVAC system in the middle of Berlin, Germany.

Presents the method and example results for the determination of organic air emissions from a common indoor material. Sample materials were ventilated at controlled air change rates, temperature and relative humidity using a well instrumented and characterized stainless steel test chamber. Tenax filled glass cartridges were used to analyse the chamber outlet air stream, which are than thermally desorbed for further concentration onto a Nutech model 8528 purge and trap system and desorption to a packed column gas chromatograph.

States that carbon dioxide measurements are commonly used to indicate fresh air in a building, also particulate levels. The study's aim was to evaluate the relationship between carbon dioxide and particulate levels and subjective human responses in office building without previous or present indoor air problems. Six separate ventilation zones were defined and carbon dioxide and particulate measurements taken with direct-reading instruments. A self-reporting questionnaire, designed in Sweden was used for the subjective human responses.

The Office Illness Project in Northern Sweden was completed in 1994. It comprised a screening questionnaire study of 4943 office workers and a case-referent study of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) in 464 subjects. Female gender, asthma/rhinitis, high psychosocial work load, paper and visual display terminal work have all been related in previously published results to an increased prevalence of sick building syndrome symptoms.

A cross-sectional questionnaire and field study of 160 Swedish office buildings and 260-2649 respondents (with case controls and prevalence comparisons) was made to assess the possible links between ventilation types, outdoor air flow rates and symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome. The ventilation rates proved to be higher than those required by most building codes and consisted of outdoor air inflow of 17 14L/p and 2.0 1.3 air changes/h.

There had been complaints of Sick Building Syndrome symptoms by employees in a large sealed office complex in Ottowa, Canada ever since it had opened. This prompted a comprehensive survey by questionnaire coupled with limited environmental measurements. Most respondents complained of irritation of the upper respiratory tract, the eyes and skin as well as various other health problems. These began shortly after coming to work in the building and were troublesome only during work; moving to other work in other parts of the complex made no difference.

An epidemiological study was instigated by reports from a Denver office building of cases of building-related asthma and hyper-sensitivity pneumonitis. The methodology used was a cross-sectional and self-administered questionnaire completed by workers in this building and a similar one in the suburbs. The Denver workers showed a much higher rate of respiratory disease than the suburban workers (512 compared to 281).

This was a study of the possible causes of an outbreak of encephalitis on Saipan in October 1990. The virus was not isolated but patients seroconverted to Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus, suggesting the first known outbreak of the disease on American territory since 1947. Ten cases were found in a population of 40,000. In a survey after the outbreak, the prevalence of antibody to JE virus was 4.2% among 234 native Saipan residents. Risk factors for infection were age, crowded living conditions and lack of air conditioning.

Th is paper exmined whether US military personnel during Operation Desert Shield were adversely affected by respiratory disease due to crowded living conditions and high levels of suspended and blowing sand. The research was based on a questionnaire given to 2598 combatants stationed in North East Saudi Arabia for a mean of 102 days. Surface sand was analyzed from seven locations by scanning, electron microscopy and X Ray diffraction.