Building Sickness
Is your workplace making you sick? Experiencing the following symptoms the more time you spend in the office?
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Nausea
- Ache
- Lethargy
- Eye irritation
- Throat irritation
If your answer is yes and the symptoms stop when you leave the building, you may be experiencing sick building syndrome.
”Sick” buildings may be caused by flaws in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. A centralized air conditioning system generally regulates the same cycle of air into different parts of buildings.
Contaminants (chemical fumes, dust, etc) and any pathogens (viruses, bacteria, mould spores etc) can be trapped inside by the HVAC AC system and/or get circulated throughout the buildings. Filters found in HVAC systems may not necessarily be sufficient in blocking all biological pollutants, especially if it was not routinely maintained.
”Sick” building has also been pinpointed as a vector to contagious respiratory diseases such as SARS and COVID-19.