Perceived indoor air quality in modern office buildings in Finland

Abstract

Perceived indoor air quality in modern office buildings in Finland Background: Indoor air quality has been identified as a significant determinant of health and comfort. Recent development of energy efficient buildings and corresponding tightening building regulations including requirements for sufficient ventilation and control of indoor air quality internationally and nationally potentially provide means for improvement. Aims: One of the objectives of the EU FP7 funded Officair project was to investigate indoor air quality and experienced health in modern office buildings that have been in use for 2-10 years. Methods: In Finland 19 office buildings in five cities (Kuopio, Joensuu, Mikkeli, Varkaus and Helsinki metropolitan area) were selected for the study and the employees working in these buildings participated in an online questionnaire on their health and indoor air quality. Results: 793 out of 4476 workers filled in the questionnaire. 72 % of them reported to experience some health problems and 41% out of them suspected the symptoms to be related to the office environment. The most common health problems reported were blocked or stuffy nose (39 %), dry eyes (35 %), dry skin (30 %), dry or irritated throat (27 %) and watering or itchy eyes (26 %). The most common problems related on the working environment were reported to be noise (45%) and too dry air (43%). The results indicate that sex, background disease diagnosed by a doctor, the geographical location of the office building, distance to a busy street and the type of the ventilation system are related on the prevalence of experienced health problems. Conclusions: The study provides up-to-date information on indoor air quality, office environment and experienced health problems in modern office buildings. This study is part of a European wide analysis of similar factors, allowing for a later comparison between climatological regions, building techniques and other relevant factors.