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Published in the Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000 Conference August 6-10, 2000, Espoo, Finland.
Michael G. Apte, William J. Fisk and Joan M. Daisey
http://eetd.lbl.gov/ied/viaq/pubs/LBNL-45019.pdf
A study of 41 office buildings was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between indoor carbon dioxide levels and mucous membrane/lower respiratory sick building syndrome. “A dose-response relationship (p<0.05) with odds ratios per 100 ppm dCO2 ranging from 1.2 to 1.5 for sore throat, nose/sinus, tight chest, and wheezing was observed." The implications for the study were to show that, “large increases in ventilation rate or improvements in ventilation effectiveness and/or indoor pollutant source control would be expected to decrease the prevalence of selected symptoms by up to 70-85%”. The results show that there is no direct link between indoor CO2 and SBS symptoms, however when ventilation rates were increased, on average, there was a significant reduction of many SBS symptoms even when the buildings met ASHRAE ventilation standards. “The magnitude of the reduction will depend on the magnitude of the increase in ventilation rates, improvement in ventilation effectiveness, or reduction in sources of SBS-causing pollutants."
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