Lack of respiratory improvement following remediation of a water-damaged office building

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Iossifova, Yulia Y. ; Kreiss, Kathleen ; Park, Ju-Hyeong ; White, Sandra K. ; Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Iossifova, Yulia Y. ; Kreiss, Kathleen ; Park, Ju-Hyeong ; White, Sandra K.
• Description:
  Background: Damp buildings are commonly remediated without removing employees or ongoing medical surveillance. Methods: We examined paired pulmonary function and questionnaire data from 2002 and 2005 for 97 employees in a water-damaged building during ongoing but incomplete remediation. Results: We observed no overall improvement in respiratory health, as reflected in symptom scores, overall medication use, spirometry abnormalities, or sick leave. Four employees went from borderline bronchial hyperresponsiveness to bronchial hyperresponsiveness; six developed abnormal spirometry; three more reported post-occupancy current asthma, and four hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The number of participants without lower respiratory symptoms decreased from 27 in 2002 to 20 in 2005. Respiratory cases relocated in the building had a decrease in medication use and sick leave in 2005. Conclusions: During dampness remediation, relocation may be health protective and prevent incident building-related respiratory cases. Without relocation of entire workforces, medical surveillance is advisable for secondary prevention of existing building-related disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic Asthma Asthma, Occupational Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Hypersensitivity Lung Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Surveys And Questionnaires

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• Keywords:
  Asthma Author Keywords: Dampness Bronchial-asthma Building-related Illness Disease-prevention Healthy Worker Effect Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis Medical-monitoring Office-workers Pulmonary-function Questionnaires Respiratory-system-disorders Spirometry Surveillance-programs

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  269-277
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037912
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2011 Apr; 54(4):269-277
• Contact Point Address:
  Sandra K.White, National Institute for Occupational Safety an and Health, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, H-2800, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Email:
  sqg8@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:81279d170bce724f86c65b9137b7dc1279cdf75c3e24e8a3c9829b4c6f72ced0152fa49b95d3f3d9ec2aee40858e09b55d9c7be624204445bf1faa89b30dd63e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191828/cdc_191828_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 125.70 KB ]