Correlating the symptoms of sick-building syndrome to indoor VOCs concentration levels and odour

Abstract

Sick-building syndrome (SBS) is a range of symptoms such as eye irritation, sore throat, and headaches that occur when entering a newly constructed or refurbished building. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are suspected to be one of the major causes of SBS. However, although Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan set the guideline values for 13 VOCs, the incidences of SBS patients have not decreased. In addition, there have been reports that when people complained symptoms of SBS, most of them also claimed to smell an odour. Furthermore, the occurrence of SBS symptoms depends largely on the person’s sensitivity. In this study, the correlation between the sum of VOCs(C2-C16) including aldehydes (ΣVOCs) and SBS symptoms were examined by statistics. The odour was quantified using the odour threshold ratio (OTR) and the correlation between the total odour threshold ratio (TOTR: sum of the OTR) and SBS symptoms was investigated. These correlations were examined separately for sensitive and insensitive groups. TOTR and the concentration level of ΣVOCs were correlated with SBS symptoms among sensitive people. The findings indicate that TOTR, in addition to ΣVOCs, could be used as a new risk indicator for human health regarding indoor air quality.