Building-Related Illnesses

Two Categories of Health and Comfort Problems 

• Building-related symptoms (often called sick building syndrome)
• Building-related illness (BRI)

Building-related symptoms are common and are generally nonspecific discomfort problems affecting the eyes, nose and throat. There are no definitive clinical tests available to establish the diagnosis of sick building syndrome, rather, building associated symptoms are recognized by identification of indoor air quality (IAQ) environmental problems or higher combined symptom rates among a group of building occupants.

In contrast, building-related illnesses are uncommon and by definition, are more serious in prognosis than mere discomfort. Physician diagnosis by clinical investigation of symptoms is the usual means of recognizing building-related illnesses. Building-related illnesses can have a long latent (or asymptomatic) period after exposure begins before symptoms are experienced, such as occurs with lung cancer after indoor radon exposure. Other categories of building-related illnesses, however, are associated with an immediate appearance of symptoms after exposure.

Recognizing Building-Related Illnesses

• Toxic illness; for xample: carbon monoxide poisoning
  
• Infectious disease; for example: Legionnaires' disease
  
• Allergic disease;  for xample: asthma, hay fever, or hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Building-related illnesses generally require a prolonged recovery time or may become a chronic problem for the patient, even after removal or remediation of the building exposure that caused the illness in the beginning.