sick building syndrome
MONDO:0005959
A group of symptoms that are two- to three-fold more common in those who work in large, energy-efficient buildings, associated with an increased frequency of headaches, lethargy, and dry skin. Clinical manifestations include hypersensitivity pneumonitis (alveolitis, extrinsic allergic); allergic rhinitis (rhinitis, allergic, perennial); asthma; infections, skin eruptions, and mucous membrane irritation syndromes. Current usage tends to be less restrictive with regard to the type of building and delineation of complaints. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)
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Sick building syndrome
Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a condition in which people develop symptoms of illness or become infected with chronic disease from the building in which they work or reside. In scientific literature, SBS is also known as building-related illness (BRI), building-related symptoms (BRS), or idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI). The main identifying observation is an increased incidence of complaints of such symptoms as headache, eye, nose, and throat irritation, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea. The 1989 Oxford English Dictionary defines SBS in that way. The World Health Organization created a 484-page tome on indoor air quality in 1984, when SBS was attributed only to non-organic causes, and suggested that the book might form a basis for legislation or litigation. The outbreaks may or may not be a direct result of inadequate or inappropriate cleaning. SBS has also been used to describe staff concerns in post-war buildings with faulty building aerodynamics, construction materials, construction process, and maintenance. Some symptoms tend to increase in severity with the time people spend in the building, often improving or even disappearing when people are away from the building. The term SBS is also used interchangeably with "building-related symptoms", which orients the name of the condition around patients' symptoms rather than a "sick" building. Attempts have been made to connect sick building syndrome to various causes, such as contaminants produced by outgassing of some building materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC), improper exhaust ventilation of ozone (...
Background only. Canonical identity remains MONDO; clinical-trial relationships come from ClinicalTrials.gov.Drugs being studied
Disease identity and terminology: MONDO. Trial relationships: ClinicalTrials.gov.