Volatile organic compounds Sick Building Syndrome

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) A varied group of pollutants that are liberated from certain synthetic building materials and fabrics. They are assumed to be responsible for some of the aspects of sick building syndrome. 

Phenol and other volatile organic compounds were measured in the air of 50 homes or apartments in Finland (Kostiainen 1995). The average concentration was 0.23 ppb, with a range of 0-0.77 ppb. Phenol levels were not significantly higher in houses in which people complained of symptoms that resembled those of a sick building syndrome. 

Molliave, L. (2000b) Volatile organic compounds and the sick building syndrome, in Environmental Toxicants. Human Exposures and Their Health Effects, 2nd edn (ed. M. Lippmann), John Wiley Sons, Inc., New York, USA, pp. 889-903. 

This book provides methods for measuring the major contaminants that cause "sick building syndrome, inducting volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, organochlorine pesticides, particulates, and other compounds. 

Norback D., Torgen M. and Edling C. (1990) Volatile organic compounds, respirable dust, and personal factors related to the prevalence of sick building syndrome in primary schools. Brit. J. Ind. Med., 47, 733-741. 

Norback D., Edling C., Wieslander G. and Ramadhan S. (1993) Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the general Swedish population and its relation to perceived air quality and sick building syndrome. Proceedings of Indoor Air 93, Helsinki, Finland, Vol. 1, 573-578. 

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