pulmonary disorders
Building Related Illnesses
Introduction
(See also Overview of Environmental and Occupational Pulmonary Diseases .) In industrialized countries, people spend>90% of their life (about 22 hours per day) indoors. Symptoms and illnesses related to indoor environments are common and can substantially impact health. It is important that clinicians recognize when symptoms are related to the indoor environment so that, where possible, exposures can be decreased or eliminated. Building-related illnesses are a heterogeneous group of disorders associated with a particular building or indoor environment. In some cases, a discrete causative agent can be identified, but often identification is not possible because symptoms and illness are rarely caused by a single exposure. Most building-related illnesses are related to more than one type of exposure combined with inadequate ventilation. Ventilation is exchanging indoor air with outdoor air to create a comfortable environment. Poor ventilation can lead to the accumulation of indoor pollutants, such as dust, mold, allergens, secondhand smoke, cleaning products, perfumes, volatile organic compounds, and other chemicals. Outdoor air pollution, infectious agents, and bioaerosols can also contribute to indoor exposures. In addition to ventilation-related problems, temperature and humidity are important factors. Damp indoor environments and excessive moisture, such as from leaks and floods, favor the growth of molds and other microbial agents, which are among the most common sources of building-related symptoms and illness. 