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. 2017 Oct;90(7):703-711.
doi: 10.1007/s00420-017-1233-z. Epub 2017 Jun 17.

SBS symptoms in relation to dampness and ventilation in inspected single-family houses in Sweden

Greta Smedje  1 , Juan Wang  2 , Dan Norbäck  2 , Håkan Nilsson  3 , Karin Engvall  2
Affiliations

SBS symptoms in relation to dampness and ventilation in inspected single-family houses in Sweden

Greta Smedje et al. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2017 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the relationships between symptoms compatible with the sick building syndrome (SBS) in adults and building dampness and ventilation in single-family houses.

Methods: Within the Swedish BETSI study, a national sample of single-family houses were inspected by professional building experts, and adults living in the houses answered a questionnaire on SBS. Relationships between building factors and SBS were analysed using logistic regression.

Results: Of the respondents, 23% reported having had weekly SBS symptoms during the last three months. A large proportion of houses exhibited building or construction problems. In total, 40% of houses had dampness problems in the foundation, and this was related to a higher prevalence of both mucous and dermal symptoms, and any SBS symptoms. Furthermore, high air humidity was related to more symptoms, with the relationship with absolute humidity being stronger than that with relative humidity or moisture load. Symptoms were also more prevalent in houses with a high U value, reflecting a poor thermal insulation. Compared to natural ventilation, living in a house with mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation was related to a lower prevalence of general symptoms and any SBS symptoms, but there were only weak associations between measured air exchange rate and symptoms.

Conclusions: A large proportion of single-family houses have dampness problems in the foundation, and pollutants may enter the living space of the house and affect the health of the occupants. Furthermore, absolute air humidity should be measured more often in indoor air studies.

Keywords: Absolute air humidity; Concrete slab; Crawl space; Mould; SBS symptoms; U value.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. An information letter sent together with the questionnaire stated that if the subjects answered and returned the questionnaire it meant they had given informed consent.

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