Sick Building Syndrome

Poor Ventilation Can Create Unhealthy Conditions in Modern Office Buildings

When a building contributes to the poor health of its occupants, especially an office building that is sealed, that has permanently closed windows, it's known as a sick building.  There are a lot of things that contribute to creating a sick building.  Probably the main ones are inadequate ventilation and air filters that contain mold and bacteria.  Other factors that create a sick building are the presence of a wide variety of chemicals including tobacco smoke, "off-gassing" from carpeting, non-wood office furniture, such as "press wood" or plastic, and chemicals used in photocopying, cleaning supplies, office supplies, such as "white out." 

Other possible contributing factors could be air from a garage that leaks into the building.

Brand new buildings can be especially toxic because of the combined effects of all the new carpeting, new partitioning and new furniture. 

The only way a sick building can be "healed" is for building management to become involved in the process.  First they have to acknowledge there is a problem.  A high incidence of sickness in an office could be an indication, but probably the best indication would be having the building tested, which can be an expensive process.