Indoor carbon dioxide concentrations and sick building syndrome symptoms in office workers of petroleum industry health organization

Aims: High prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) owing to the work is one of the popular discomforts. High prevalence of sick
building syndrome (SBS) owing to the work is one of the popular discomforts and Work-related absenteeism between office workers. The
aims of this study were to assess the association of indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations with SBS prevalence among employees in
two office buildings of Petroleum Industry Health Organization in Tehran city.
In this analytical‑descriptive study,
170 employees of the two office buildings of Petroleum Industry Health Organization in Tehran city have been selected. HSE questionnaire
was combined with Skov’s questionnaire as data collection tools. Questionnaire data analysis has also carried out using SPSS and Chi‑square
independent sample t‑test. CO2 concentrations were measured usingcalibratedinstruments.
The results suggested that the CO2concentration in both buildings is higher than the threshold limit. CO2 concentration was significantly associated with some symptoms such as dry throat (P = 0.028), shortness of breath (P = 0.028), nasal irritation (P = 0.008), dizziness (P = 0.0312), headache (P = 0.0315),nausea (P = 0.049), and sickness (P = 0.023).
The prevalence of syndrome symptoms in women was higher than men. Some ofSBS symptoms were exacerbated by increasing CO2 concentrations among the employee