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Almost seventy percent of the U.S. work force -- approximately 89 million persons
-- work in non-industrial, non-agricultural, indoor work settings, referred to
here as indoor environments. In the last 20 years diseases and health complaints
related to these indoor environments have received increasing attention. "Indoor
Environmental Quality" refers to the interactions among many factors in indoor
environments, including the quality of the air (e.g., air flow, the presence of
chemical or microbiological agents), physical conditions such as temperature and
humidity, ergonomic factors, and stressors from social/psychological or work organizational
factors.
The most common health complaints attributed by building occupants to their
indoor environments are generally of nonspecific symptoms, such as eye, nose,
throat, and skin irritation, headache, and fatigue. Specific causal exposures
or known diseases usually cannot be linked to these complaints. Available evidence
relates these acute symptoms to multiple factors in the indoor environment.
NIOSH investigators have found IEQ problems caused by ventilation system deficiencies,
overcrowding, offgassing from materials in the office and mechanical equipment,
tobacco smoke, excessive moisture, microbiological contamination (e.g., mold),
and outside air pollutants.
Maintaining a healthy and comfortable indoor environment in any building requires
integrating many components of a complex system. Indoor environment problems
are preventable and solvable and practical guidance on how to manage your building
for good indoor environmental quality is available.
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