Elizabeth Steinberg was a healthy 16-year-old student on the tennis team at St. charles high school, west of chicago, illinois. But then she started to have strange health problems. The same thing happened to dozens of teachers and student at the school. They went to doctors for treatment of a number of symptoms such as sore throats, tiredness, headaches, and respiratory (breathing ) difficulties. Doctors treated respiratory infections with antibiotics, but the condition didn’t seem to improve, except-mysteriously-on weekends and over vacations, when the symptoms disappeared. Experts came to investigate and find the cause. They discovered that St. Charles High, like thousands of other school and office buildings nationwide, is a “sick building”-in other words, a building that creates its own indoor air pollution.
People have worried about smog for many years, and the government has spent billions of dollars to try to clean up the air of big cities. But now we find that there is no escape from unhealthy air. Recent studies have shown that air inside many homes, office buildings, and school is full of pollutions: chemicals, mold, bacteria, smoke, and gases. These pollutants are causing a group of unpleasant and dangerous symptoms that experts call “sick-building syndrome.” First discovered in 1982, sick-building syndrome most often includes symptoms similar to those of the flu (watering eyes, headaches, and so on) and respiratory infections such as tonsillitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
Although most common in office buildings and schools, the indoor pollution that causes sick-building syndrome can also occur in houses. Imagine a typical home. The people who live there burn oil, wood, or gas for cooking and heating. They might smoke cigarettes, pipes, or cigars. They use chemicals for cleaning. They use products made of particleboard, which is an inexpensive kind of board made of very small pieces of wood held together with a chemical. They use products such as computers, fax machines, and copiers that are made of plastic. These products give off chemical that we can’t see, but we do breathe them in. In some homes, carbon monoxide from cars in the garage can enter the house. And in many areas, the ground under the building might send a dangerous gas called radon into the home. The people in the house are breathing in a “chemical soup”
Then what cause sick-building syndrome in an office building or school, where people don’t smoke or burn oil, wood, or gas? Experts have discovered several sources of sick-building syndrome; among these are mold and bacteria, synthetic products, and lack of ventilation-or the movement of fresh air into and out of the building. In many building, rain has leaked in and caused water damage to walls and carpets. This allows mold and bacteria to grow. Air conditioning systems are another place where mold and bacteria can grow. Synthetic (that is, man-made) products such as paint, carpeting, and furniture can be found in all office and schools. These products release toxic (poisonous) chemicals into the air. Perhaps the most common cause of sick-building syndrome, however, is lack of ventilation. Most modern office buildings are tightly sealed; in other words, the windows don’t open, so fresh air doesn’t enter the building. In a building with mold, bacteria, or toxic chemicals, lack of ventilation makes the situation more serious.
There are several solutions to the problem of sick-building syndrome; the most important of these is cleaning the building. First, of course, experts must determine the specific cause in any one building. Then workers probably need to take out carpets, wallpaper, and ceiling tiles in order to remove mold and bacteria. Also, they need to clean out the air conditioning system and completely rebuild the system of ventilation. They should remove synthetic products and bring in natural products, instead, if they are available.
Elizabeth Steinberg was a healthy 16-year-old student on the tennis team at St. charles high school, west of chicago, illinois. But then she started to have strange health problems. The same thing happened to dozens of teachers and student at the school. They went to doctors for treatment of a number of symptoms such as sore throats, tiredness, headaches, and respiratory (breathing ) difficulties. Doctors treated respiratory infections with antibiotics, but the condition didn’t seem to improve, except-mysteriously-on weekends and over vacations, when the symptoms disappeared. Experts came to investigate and find the cause. They discovered that St. Charles High, like thousands of other school and office buildings nationwide, is a “sick building”-in other words, a building that creates its own indoor air pollution.
People have worried about smog for many years, and the government has spent billions of dollars to try to clean up the air of big cities. But now we find that there is no escape from unhealthy air. Recent studies have shown that air inside many homes, office buildings, and school is full of pollutions: chemicals, mold, bacteria, smoke, and gases. These pollutants are causing a group of unpleasant and dangerous symptoms that experts call “sick-building syndrome.” First discovered in 1982, sick-building syndrome most often includes symptoms similar to those of the flu (watering eyes, headaches, and so on) and respiratory infections such as tonsillitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
Although most common in office buildings and schools, the indoor pollution that causes sick-building syndrome can also occur in houses. Imagine a typical home. The people who live there burn oil, wood, or gas for cooking and heating. They might smoke cigarettes, pipes, or cigars. They use chemicals for cleaning. They use products made of particleboard, which is an inexpensive kind of board made of very small pieces of wood held together with a chemical. They use products such as computers, fax machines, and copiers that are made of plastic. These products give off chemical that we can’t see, but we do breathe them in. In some homes, carbon monoxide from cars in the garage can enter the house. And in many areas, the ground under the building might send a dangerous gas called radon into the home. The people in the house are breathing in a “chemical soup”
Then what cause sick-building syndrome in an office building or school, where people don’t smoke or burn oil, wood, or gas? Experts have discovered several sources of sick-building syndrome; among these are mold and bacteria, synthetic products, and lack of ventilation-or the movement of fresh air into and out of the building. In many building, rain has leaked in and caused water damage to walls and carpets. This allows mold and bacteria to grow. Air conditioning systems are another place where mold and bacteria can grow. Synthetic (that is, man-made) products such as paint, carpeting, and furniture can be found in all office and schools. These products release toxic (poisonous) chemicals into the air. Perhaps the most common cause of sick-building syndrome, however, is lack of ventilation. Most modern office buildings are tightly sealed; in other words, the windows don’t open, so fresh air doesn’t enter the building. In a building with mold, bacteria, or toxic chemicals, lack of ventilation makes the situation more serious.
There are several solutions to the problem of sick-building syndrome; the most important of these is cleaning the building. First, of course, experts must determine the specific cause in any one building. Then workers probably need to take out carpets, wallpaper, and ceiling tiles in order to remove mold and bacteria. Also, they need to clean out the air conditioning system and completely rebuild the system of ventilation. They should remove synthetic products and bring in natural products, instead, if they are available.
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