What is Sick building syndrome?
'''Sick building syndrome''' ('''SBS''') is a combination of [[illness]]es (a [[syndrome]]) associated with a human's place of work ([[office building]]) or [[wikt:dwelling|dwelling]]. A 1984 [[World Health Organization]] report into suggested up to 30% of new and remodeled buildings around the world may be linked to symptoms of SBS. Most of the sick building syndrome is related to poor [[indoor air quality]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sbs.html|title=Sick Building Syndrome|publisher=[[United States Environmental Protection Agency]]|accessdate=2009-02-19}}</ref> SBS can be caused by flaws in the [[HVAC|heating, ventilation, and air conditioning]] (HVAC) systems. Other causes have been [[contaminant]]s produced by [[outgassing]] of some types of building materials, [[volatile organic compound]]s (VOC), [[Fungus|molds]] (see [[mold health issues]]), improper exhaust [[ventilation]] of [[ozone]] (byproduct of some office machinery), using light industrial [[chemicals]] in the building, or lack of adequate fresh-air intake/[[air filter|air filtration]] (see Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value). People try to fix SBS symptoms by increasing the overall turn-over rate of [[Fresh Air|fresh air]] exchange between the building's air and the outside air. But the new [[green building]] design [[wikt:goal|goals]] should be able to avoid most of the SBS sources in the first place. [[Cleaner]]s should lower their use of dangerous VOC cleaning compounds, and get rid of conditions that cause [[allergenic]], potentially-[[Fatal|deadly]] mold growth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/mold/docs/mold.pdf|title=Mold and Mildew PDF file|publisher=National Institute of Environmental Health Science|accessdate=2009-02-19}}</ref> ==Symptoms== Building occupants complain of symptoms such as [[wikt:irritate|irritation]] of the [[eye]]s, [[nose]], [[throat]]; [[neurotoxin|neurotoxic]] or general health problems; [[skin]] irritation; nonspecific hypersensitivity reactions and [[Extrinsic all