To prevent sick building syndrome, attention must be paid to reducing individual risk factors.
Behavioral risk factors
- Psychosocial situation
- Stress – psychological and social stress at work.
- Lighting
- Odor loads
- Noise
- Humidity
- Overheated rooms
- Insufficient ventilation of indoor spaces
- Residential proximity to gas stations and small businesses
Environmental pollution – intoxications (poisonings).
Indoor pollutants contained in:
- Floor coverings
- Insulation materials
- Damping
- Sealants
- Printers
- Electrical appliances
- Colors
- Humidity
- Wood preservative coatings
- Hydrophobic measures
- Air conditioning systems
- Varnishes
- Furniture
- Pest control products (insecticides against insects; acaricides against mites and other arachnids; rodenticides against rodents; larvicides against the larvae of insects and mites).
- Molds – mycotoxins (mycophenolic acid, sterigmatocystin, trichothecenes) from molds that spread on wallpaper in buildings and are detectable in the air we breathe:
- Aspergillus versicolor (most common indoor mold).
- Penicillium brevicompactum
- Stachybotrys chartarum
- Putties
- Dusting
- Carpeting
- Carpet adhesives
Prevention factors (protective factors)
- Shock ventilation (brief, approximately 3 to 10 minutes (winter: 3 min; summer up to 10 min), intensive air exchange to remove loads from work spaces)
- Office room after 60 min
- Meeting room after 20 min