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Abstract
There is an increasing concern about indoor air quality (IAQ) and its impact on health, comfort, and work-performance in office-like environments and their workers, which account for most of the labor force. The Scientific Committee on Indoor Air Quality and Health of the ICOH (Int. Comm. Occup. Health) has discussed the assessment and management of IAQ problems and proposed a stepwise approach to be conducted by a multidisciplinary team. It is recommended to integrate the building assessment, inspection by walk-through of the office workplace, questionnaire survey, and environmental measurements, in that order. The survey should cover perceived IAQ, symptoms, and psychosocial working aspects. The outcome can be used for mapping the IAQ and to prioritize the order in which problems should be dealt with. Individual health surveillance in relation to IAQ is proposed only when periodical health surveillance is already performed for other risks (e.g., video display units) or when specific clinical examination of workers is required due to the occurrence of diseases that may be linked to IAQ (e.g., Legionnaire’s disease), recurrent inflammation, infections of eyes, respiratory airway effects, and sensorial disturbances. Environmental and personal risk factors should also be compiled and assessed. Workplace health promotion should include programs for smoking cessation and stress and IAQ management.
Highlights
The indoor air quality (IAQ) in office-like environments is an issue of increasing focus because office workers provide services of high relevance
The former can be divided into immediate perceived IAQ that is related to odor perception and semi-acute effects that are characterized by some latency, like sensory irritation in eyes and airways, and symptoms related to the central nervous system [15,19]
The overall concern about work performance is related to absenteeism and associated diseases due to the work environment (IAQ), but it may result from less comfortable working conditions, e.g. inadequate IAQ [5,43,44] and low relative humidity [17,25]
Summary
The indoor air quality (IAQ) in office-like environments is an issue of increasing focus because office workers provide services of high relevance. Health effects potentially related to exposure to indoor air pollutants in office environments include acute and semi-acute effects and longer-term based effects The former can be divided into immediate perceived IAQ that is related to odor perception (olfactorius nerve) and semi-acute effects that are characterized by some latency, like sensory irritation in eyes and airways (trigeminus nerve), and symptoms related to the central nervous system (e.g., headache and fatigue) [15,19]. Longer-term effects due to continuous or repeated exposure to indoor air pollutants may be associated with aggravation of asthma exacerbation and allergic responses, oxidative stress and inflammation, chronic obstructive and pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and cardiovascular diseases These effects are generally not evaluated in office workers due to the complexity and required resources for clinical testing, which seem unrealistic in view of occupants’ mobility and the inhomogeneity of exposures [7]. The overall concern about work performance is related to absenteeism and associated diseases due to the work environment (IAQ), but it may result from less comfortable working conditions, e.g. inadequate IAQ [5,43,44] and low relative humidity [17,25]
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