Social Sustainability
Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
A pattern of acute symptoms — headaches, irritation, fatigue — linked to time in a specific building, usually from poor ventilation and indoor pollutants.
Definition
Sick building syndrome describes a situation in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects — headaches; eye, nose and throat irritation; dry skin; fatigue; difficulty concentrating — that appear linked to time spent in the building, with no specific identifiable illness. Recognised by the WHO in the 1980s, SBS is associated with inadequate ventilation, indoor chemical pollutants (VOCs, formaldehyde), biological contaminants, and poor thermal and lighting conditions.
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