Environment with Plastic Building Materials, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol and Microorganisms Related to Sick Building Syndrome
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Liu, Yi-Chun
Abstract
The possible health effect caused by plastic building materials that are getting popular in indoor environment, have been noticed. This study aims at disclosing sick building syndrome associated with 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, microorganisms and other factors such as ventilation, temperature, humidity, total volatile organic compounds and total suspended particulates in environment with the usage of plastic building materials. A questionnaire survey was administrated for investigating the prevalence of sick building syndrome; 2-ethyl-1-hexanol and microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) were sampled and analyzed; other environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, total volatile organic compounds and total suspended particulates were measured by direct-reading instruments. The results indicated that, the prevalence of sick building syndrome was 40.7% when using "three or more symptoms affected by environment" as a diagnosis base; the prevalence of sick building syndrome was 66.5% when using "the symptoms became better when leaving uncomfortable environment " as a diagnosis base. People felt uncomfortable in the environment installed with plastic carpet that was a significantly risk factor after adjusted for sick building syndrome. Major uncomfortable complaints were mucous membrane irritation involved in uncomfortable eyes, nose and throat. The mean concentration of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol in the room installed with carpet was 65.1 μg/m3 that was significantly higher than in the room without plastic carpet (p<0.01). During two sampling periods, schooling time and winter vacation, the concentrations of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol significantly correlated with the concentrations of Penicillium (β=0.51, p<0.05); the concentrations of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol in small classrooms significantly high (211.3 μg/m3, p<0.01); the concentrations of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol also significantly correlated with temperature (β=0.64, p=0.03) and total bacteria (β=0.71, p=0.02), respectively, when the factors of “people” and “the condition of ventilating” are excluded. In conclusion, the plastic carpet, ventilation, volume of room, temperature and microorganisms in indoor environment would affect the concentration of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol that probably relate to the prevalence of sick building syndrome. Thus, reducing the use of plastic building materials for inner decoration and providing adequate ventilation can decrease the concentrations of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol in indoor environment.
Subjects
Indoor air quality
plastic building materials
2-ethyl-1-hexanol
volatile organic compounds
microorganisms
sick building syndrome
Type
thesis
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