People spend most of their time indoors, some estimates being that we spend more than 90% of our lives inside built environments. With time, buildings have been constructed to focus on comfort and energy efficiency. Central heating and cooling systems are the norm, and both office and home construction has moved toward minimizing cool air or heat loss by ensuring buildings are more airtight. At the same time, materials being used for clothing, fabrics, detergents, and preservatives are becoming more complex. These more recent changes together with other parallel trends have meant that the exposure to dusts, gases and foreign proteins through inhalation has gone far beyond what historically has been the case. This fact sheet overviews the types of stimuli or allergens that are most likely to be found in buildings today, the idea of "sick building syndrome" and how people can cope better with modern construction of indoor environments.

What is "Sick Building Syndrome"?

In the 1970s, increasing numbers of people were having headaches and reactions to unidentified stimuli. Some reactions included fatigue, dizziness, irritation of the eyes and lethargy. Over a number of years the reactions were associated to common symptoms of people within certain buildings and a lack of symptoms when the people weren't in the buildings. The range of complaints connected to a particular building was then named the "sick building syndrome"

Symptoms often associated with sick building syndrome Headaches, shortness of breath and fatigue Coughing, sneezing and sinus congestion Eye, throat, nose and skin irritation Dizziness and nausea Due to a variation in people's sensitivities, it is accepted that one person may suffer from the symptoms above when another person in the same region may not suffer from any symptoms. Most susceptible people to poor indoor air quality are: Individuals who suffer from asthma or allergies People suffering from respiratory diseases People with a compromised immune system Those who wear contact lenses

The following points can be used as a guide to help you establish if you have a potential outbreak of “sick building syndrome”:

• Symptoms are prevalent among building occupants
• Symptoms disappear when the people leave the building for a longer period of time, such as weekends
• The symptoms have a sudden onset
• People with asthma, chemical sensitivities or allergies have reactions indoors but not outdoors
• A doctor diagnoses a building occupant with an indoor-related illness

Killing black mold products:

A few simple steps can help you keep your domestic and central HVAC system free of all unwanted growth of black mold, mildew and bacteria development, and the outburst of the Sick Building Syndrome associated with poor air coning from the air conditioning system.

1. Maintain clean filter in the unit constantly.

2. Have the unit inner coil (evaporative coil) cleaned every 3-4 month using the proper product according to the coil condition – if coil has only a light layer of dust, the Eco-Clean should be sufficient to have it clean, if the coil accumulated a thick layer of dust and organic sediment then a foaming product like the Gab-Coil should be implicated in order the extract deposits from deep in the coil.

3. When the coil is clean, the unit should be disinfected. The Clean-Air is a biocide, eliminating and controlling future growth of organic contaminants that frequently cause poor indoor air quality and "sick building syndrome" at the source of the system. Clean-air eliminates mold, mildew and slime deposits. Clean-Air is a user friendly formula so evacuating the premises during application is unnecessary. Application is by the sprayer provided or using any manual or electrical sprayer for central air conditioning units.

4. After coil has been disinfected unit drain pan should be treated. Placing the Pan-Clean-Tab will prevent any damage caused by plugged drains and keep you drain pan mold and bacteria free for up to 6 month.

Keeping these simple steps will insure a safer and better air quality in your indoor environment and help you protect your family from the risks associated with the Sick Building Syndrome.

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