Influence of indoor climate on the sick building syndrome in an office environment.

The role of indoor climate factors on symptoms of the sick building syndrome was studied in Copenhagen, Denmark. Altogether, 2369 office workers completed questionnaires in 14 buildings, whose indoor climate was measured. The results were subjected to multivariate logistic regression analyses of the multifactorial effects on the prevalence of work-related mucosal irritation and work-related general symptoms among the office workers. The results demonstrated that the level of macromolecular organic floor dust, the type of floor covering, the number of work stations in the office, the building's age, the kind of ventilation system employed, and two easily recognizable factors, the shelf factor and the fleece factor, were linked with the prevalence of workers' complaints of SBS symptoms.