SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JOB MARKET : WEATHERING THE WORKPLACE : HEALTH RISKS : The increasing use of synthetic materials in buildings causes many workers to become ill.
Jack Buckley would get sick soon after his workday started at Raytheon Co. in Goleta.
For months, the computer programmer became dizzy and disoriented and even began to have trouble walking. The problems at first disappeared right after Buckley got home. But after several months, the symptoms were permanent.
Buckley, 63, claimed to be the victim of sick building syndrome, a malady that some researchers say is commonplace in many office buildings. Sufferers complain of any number of symptoms including watery eyes, sinus congestion, nausea, dizziness, headaches, sore throats, rashes or fatigue.
The cause of sick building syndrome is the increasing number of synthetic materials used in office furnishings such as carpets, paint, draperies, copy machines and furniture. Buildings constructed during the energy conscious 1970s--with features such as sealed windows--constantly recirculate the fumes these materials give off.
Formaldehyde, for instance, is found in particle board, fiberboard, plywood, carpeting, upholstery and drapery fabrics. If inhaled in strong enough concentrations, formaldehyde fumes can cause everything from respiratory irritation to terrible headaches. Natural pollutants such as bacteria, viruses and molds can invade carpets and poorly maintained ventilation systems, spreading a variety of infectious diseases.
“I think there are probably thousands of buildings in this county where people experience those symptoms more than they should because the ventilation systems are either not designed properly or not maintained adequately,” said Dr. Paul Papanek, chief of the toxics and epidimiology program for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Raytheon, the architectural firm that designed the building it occupies and several other parties settled a lawsuit with Buckley last year in which he alleged that damage done to his central nervous system and brain were the result of sick building syndrome.
Raytheon spokesman Ed Powers said Buckley’s illness was not a result of sick building syndrome but refused to comment further.
“They were remodeling one building where he was working and part of the remodeling included the laying of new carpets that required a certain type of glue,” said Larry H. Clough, Buckley’s attorney. “The glue was toxic to Mr. Buckley’s system. Because it was a sealed building, they had less ventilation than the normal building would have.”
Buckley received more than $625,000 from the companies named in his lawsuit, along with workers’ compensation, Clough said. He hasn’t worked since 1982.
In March, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a Lockheed Corp. plant in Burbank for 440 alleged violations and recommended a fine of $1.5 million after workers there claimed they became ill from exposure to hazardous substances. Some 88 current and former workers at the plant, where the top-secret stealth jet fighter is made, are suing the giant aerospace company. Lockheed is contesting the lawsuits and has denied the allegations against it.
Victims of sick building syndrome rarely develop problems as serious as Buckley’s or those alleged to have been found at Lockheed. For starters, experts say only 15% to 30% of office workers are sensitive enough to synthetics to be physically bothered by them.
And unlike the carcinogens found in asbestos and radon--which can go undetected for years-- few of the synthetic irritants commonly found in office products are capable of causing serious injury.
The biggest cost of sick building syndrome is the misery it can cause workers and the estimated $2 billion to $3 billion worth of sick days they take a year to avoid it.
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington found that soldiers in recently built, energy-efficient barracks were much more likely to come down with respiratory problems than those stationed in older, more ventilated buildings.
And a five-year study by the Environmental Protection Agency found that the air within public buildings may be more than 100 times as polluted as the outdoor air in urban areas. The EPA was recently picketed by a group of its own employees who were complaining about sick building symptoms in that agency’s Washington headquarters.
Employers may find it difficult to distinguish between a legitimate problem and group of disgruntled workers. “If there aren’t at least 20% of the building’s occupants complaining, we say we don’t have a case,” said James Mintie, executive vice president of Indoor Air Quality Consultants Group, a Los Angeles company.
If sick building syndrome is the cause of the complaints, there are several actions building owners can take to lessen the problems.
The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends owners of new buildings heat their facilities to at least 90 degrees for several days before workers return to their offices.
The high temperature speeds up the so-called offgassing of the synthetic fumes that new furniture and carpeting can carry. “We’ve been studying the effectiveness of baking out buildings,” said Steven Hayward, manager of indoor air quality for the state Department of Health Services. “You can heat the building up and this will drive a lot of the volatile chemicals into the air. You can artificially age the building before people go to work there.”
In older buildings, the American Lung Assn. suggests that employers raise partitions about three to six inches off the ground to improve air circulation, install ceiling fans and add humidifiers or dehumidifiers if necessary. The organization also recommends periodic checks of the building’s ventilation system to make sure it is both clean and working properly.
