=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #78
—May 23, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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BAD AIR INSIDE OFFICE BUILDING IS MAKING WHITE COLLAR WORKERS SICK.
The air in offices, where white collar workers spend their lives,
is increasingly contaminated with molds, bacteria, chemical fumes
and other contaminants. Four factors are making the situation
worse: efforts to reduce energy consumption, the tendency to
squeeze more people into less space, sloppy maintenance, and
increasing reliance on toxic chemicals in manufacture of office
supplies and equipment.
Dr. Alfred Munser, a director of the American Lung Association,
says, “In my practise [as director of critical care at Washington
Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, MD], I see an increasing
number of people with vague respiratory problems that are quite
bothersome. You can’t really pin the problems on anything
specific, but looking closely at the history of these people, you
get the feeling that the symptoms are associated with something
at work. Very often ventilation systems are not cleaned out. And
all sorts of things can grow in those systems.”
People on the breathing end of those ventilation systems tend to
suffer from more than their share of headaches, sore throats, eye
irritations, colds, allergies, and influenza, says Dr. Munser.
Since the energy crisis a decade ago, landlords have been
reducing their heating and air condition bills by installing
heavier insulation and by reducing fresh air intake; fresh air
has to be heated or cooled to the proper temperature, at
considerable expense. Pumping recycled air through a building’s
ventilation ducts is far cheaper.
Vapors from copying machines and carpets, asbestos fibers,
bacteria and viruses, hazardous dust, carbon monoxide from
underground parking garages–all contribute to the problem.
Because modern buildings lack windows that employees can open to
let in fresh air, everyone is becoming reliant upon mechanical
ventilation systems. Yet in 35% of 240 buildings inspected over
the past five years by ACVA Atlantic (a company in Fairfax, VA,
that investigates and remedies indoor air pollution problems),
the fresh air intakes were sealed off entirely. “That’s just
ignorance,” says Gray Robertson, president of ACVA. “The
building engineers never saw the absenteeism records in the
personnel department and no one made the connection between
polluted air and all the headaches, coughs, and sickness.”
Poor indoor air quality makes many U.S. white collar workers
miserable, and it costs an estimated $2 to $3 billion each year
in extra sick days and medical pay.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: indoor air pollution; air pollution; air
quality; alfred munser; american lung association; resiratory
disease; lung disease; occupational safety and health; acva
atlantic inc.; gray robertson;