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This syndrome addresses situations when people dwelling within a particular building experiences small health or comfort effects. However, the sickness cannot be identified. Another similar term...

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Nisa_Kurus

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https://www.reminetwork.com/articles/impact-of-building-materials-on-human-health/https://www.reminetwork.com/articles/impact-of-building-materials-on-human-health/

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Building related illness

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https://www.medicinenet.com/legionnaire_disease_and_pontiac_fever/article.htm#legionnaires#39_disease_and_pontiac_fever_legionellosis_facts

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Do certain building materials contain toxicants that are harmful?

The impact of the built environment on human health and wellness is becoming a more important topic in the industry. As the buildings industry attempts to meet new demands related to human health and wellness, an important concept that has emerged is the use of various building materials and finishes.

What is the concern? An emerging concern is whether a certain material contains toxicants - chemicals synthesized or concentrated by manufacturing that are harmful to human health at relatively low doses. Toxicants can assert their effects during the manufacture, use or disposal of a product. They may be carcinogenic, or otherwise impact the health of the respiratory, neurological, endocrine or other systems of the human body. Consider a typical office space: paint on the wall may emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs); particleboard may contain formaldehyde; flooring may contain phthalates; and furniture is often coated in flame retardant. Each has the possibility of containing toxicants. This is only the tip of the iceberg - it has been asserted that the vast majority of manufacturing ingredients are poorly understood for their health impacts.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that reducing exposure to toxicants has real, measurable health benefits. A recent study shows that minimized VOC emissions in an office environment can significantly improve cognition, which is positive news for an employer whose operating budget is almost entirely tied to employee costs and productivity. The healthcare system is similarly alleviated by measures such as eliminating formaldehyde, which has shown potential to reduce asthma symptoms by over half. Many studies claim that overall, these kinds of interventional measures are much more cost effective than clinical treatment of illness.

As an industry, we have grown more confident when speaking about the environmental impacts of the products we use. Data related to recycled content or regional materials, for example, have become commonplace. But the same cannot be said about data related to human health impacts. The industry now avoids some of the "worst offending" substances, like lead and asbestos, due to government regulation. Even for these products, there was a decades-long delay between the scientific identification of the health risks they posed and implementation of regulatory action. For the toxicants mentioned earlier, however, there are relatively few regulations to address their use.

What is a building professional to do? Fortunately, there are frameworks emerging to help building professionals sort through the data and contribute to a solution.

The LEED rating system, for example, has long rewarded building projects for choosing products with low VOCs and no urea formaldehyde. Until recently, however, the broader concept of toxicants has not been well addressed. The latest version LEED v4 introduces a new credit, "Material Ingredients", which rewards projects for sourcing at least 20 products where the manufacturer has fully disclosed the ingredients it contains. This might seem trivial, but is in fact atypical practice. The most common formats for a manufacturer to disclose ingredients is through a Health Product Declaration (HPD), an online publication or database such as Pharos, or obtaining a third-party certification such as Cradle to Cradle. There are various websites with databases of products which fully disclose their ingredients, such as GreenWizard, Pharos and the Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Database.

Under the same new credit, a project pursuing LEED v4 can earn additional reward by choosing products that demonstrate a low hazard to human health. Other green building rating systems like the WELL Building Standard and Living Building Challenge offer similar reward mechanisms.

What do you need to know? We need to start treating materials in the same way as energy efficiency - something that impacts many different disciplines in a project, and which requires coordination, early planning and critical thinking to achieve desired results.

In the short term, project teams can leverage their product selection efforts to reward ingredient transparency and help mainstream this practice among manufacturers. The ultimate goal of transparency is for manufacturers to invest more effort in creating healthier products. In the long term, teams will need to arm themselves with knowledge to accurately evaluate a product's benefits and risks based on the information disclosed by the manufacturer.
Ben Campbell is a project manager with WSP Canada's sustainable buildings team. Specializing in new and existing commercial buildings, his experience encompasses over 30 LEED projects, including LEED version 4.
The positive news is that many manufacturers are already anticipating this trend and are offering more data and information about the ingredients and health impacts of their products.

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impact of building materials on human health

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Do certain building materials contain toxicants that are harmful? The impact of the built environment on human health and wellness is becoming a more important topic in the industry. As the buildings industry attempts to meet new demands related to human health and wellness, an important concept that has emerged is the use of various building materials and finishes.

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Silicosis is permanent scarring of the lungs caused by inhaling silica (quartz) dust.

People develop difficulty breathing during exercise that sometimes progresses to shortness of breath even at rest, and some people also have a cough that may or may not produce sputum.

Diagnosis is made with a chest x-ray or computed tomography.

Doctors can sometimes give drugs to help keep airways clear.

Silicosis is the oldest known environmental lung disease (see Overview of Environmental Lung Diseases). It is caused by inhalation of tiny particles of silica (usually quartz) or, less commonly, by inhalation of silicates, such as talc.

Workers at greatest risk are those who move or blast rock and sand (miners, quarry workers, stonecutters) or who use silica-containing rock or sand abrasives (sand blasters; glass makers; foundry, gemstone, and ceramic workers; potters). Recently, silicosis has been identified in workers who fabricate or install countertops manufactured from engineered silicates (silica conglomerate). Coal miners are at risk of mixed silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis (see Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis).

Acute silicosis may develop after intense exposures over several years or months.

Chronic silicosis is the most common form and generally develops only after exposure over decades.

Accelerated silicosis, which is rare, may develop after more intense exposures over several years or months (like acute silicosis). Silica is also a cause of lung cancer.

When inhaled, silica dust passes into the lungs, and scavenger cells such as macrophages engulf it (see Table: Overview of the Immune System). Enzymes released by the scavenger cells cause the lung tissue to scar.

Simple chronic silicosis isthe first stage of chronic silicosis. In this stage, the scarred areas are tiny round lumps.

Eventually, complicated chronic silicosis occurs when the scarred areas combine into larger masses. Sometimes these larger masses come together into even larger masses (progressive massive fibrosis). These scarred areas cannot transfer oxygen into the blood normally. The lungs become less flexible, and breathing takes more effort.

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Silicosis - Lung and Airway Disorders - MSD Manual Consumer Version

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Silicosis is permanent scarring of the lungs caused by inhaling silica (quartz) dust. People develop difficulty breathing during exercise that sometimes progresses to shortness of breath even at rest, and some people also have a cough that may or may not produce sputum. Diagnosis is made with a chest x-ray or computed tomography.

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Causes of Sick Building

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Orange County health experts are investigating 12 cases of Legionnaires' disease among people who live in or visited the Anaheim area in September. Eight of the cases involve people visiting Disneyland and one person worked at the park.

One person, who had not visited Disneyland, has died, officials said Friday.

A Disneyland official said the resort voluntarily shut down two cooling towers in a backstage area of the theme park after it found the towers had elevated levels of a bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease.

Jessica Good, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency, said in an email Friday night the agency found 12 people, ages 52 to 94, were diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease, a type of airborne disease that causes a severe form of pneumonia to most people 50 years or older or with a weak immune system.

One of those diagnosed was a cast member but where they worked at the park was not disclosed.

Of the 12, 10 have been hospitalized, and one person died. The person who died was described as having additional health problems and did not visit the theme park, Good said.

The health care agency is investigating all the cases, but has not yet identified a common exposure source for all of them, she said.

The illness, also known as legionellosis, is an infection with symptoms of serious pneumonia and can be deadly if not treated.

Legionnaires' disease usually results from inhaling microscopic water droplets in mist or vapor. The bacterium Legionella living in freshwater rarely causes infections, but indoors it can multiply in water systems such as hot tubs and air conditioners, according to the Mayo Clinic.

It is not spread through person-to-person contact.

In a statement, Dr. Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said Disney was informed Oct. 27 by the county agency of Disneyland's possible role in the Legionnaires' disease cases in Anaheim.

"We conducted a review and learned that two cooling towers had elevated levels of Legionella bacteria," Hymel said in the statement. "These towers were treated with chemicals that destroy the bacteria and are currently shut down."

Hymel added that Disney has worked with the county health care agency and that "there is no longer any known risk associated with our facilities."

"(Disney) reported having performed subsequent testing and disinfection and brought the towers back into service (Sunday)," Good said.

While the towers, in a backstage area behind the New Orleans Square train station, were initially cleared, Disney on its own took them back out of service on Tuesday. Disney is working with health officials on the status of the towers.

Good said there have been no additional Legionella cases after September and no known ongoing risk associated with this outbreak.

In May, a community pool and spa in Foothill Ranch in South Orange County was closed after two cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported. The disease sent two people to the hospital.

Related: 5 things to know about Legionnaires' disease

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Disneyland visitors among 12 cases of Legionnaires' disease in Anaheim

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Orange County health experts are investigating 12 cases of Legionnaires' disease among people who live in or visited the Anaheim area in September. Eight of the cases involve people visiting Disneyland and one person worked at the park. One person, who had not visited Disneyland, has died, officials said Friday.

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2796751/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2796751/

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