The Public Health Ministry has called on business operators to pay more attention to air quality inside their office buildings to ward off the so-called Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) among office workers. Soisuda Kesornthong of the Disease Control Department, said poor indoor air quality and ventilation, cooking and air-conditioning appliances and vapours from building materials, furniture and paint could cause SBS in office workers.

She said SBS can cause headaches, drowsiness, skin diseases, allergies and even lung cancer.

She said SBS was a major concern in several countries since people usually spent at least four-fifth of their time inside a building.

``The problem is also worsening in Thailand because of an increasing number of high-rise buildings.

``As members of the younger generation prefer to live in condominiums, this also makes them more vulnerable to SBS,'' she said.

According to a recent survey in the US, around 50% of the SBS cases resulted from poor ventilation, 30% from pollution inside the building, such as dust, and 10% from outside pollution, mainly carbon dioxide from exhaust pipes of vehicles.

Ms Soisuda said office appliances, such as copy machines, would be better placed in a separate room or as far away as possible from the working environment since they were all known to cause SBS.

She said SBS could primarily be prevented by improving the ventilation system.

Around seven organisations, including the Stock Exchange of Thailand, United Broadcasting Company and TT&T plc, were among the first companies to have taken serious steps to improve indoor air quality.

They even received certificates guaranteeing their buildings were SBS-free from SGS (Thailand) Ltd, the first company to offer certification for good air quality inside office buildings in Thailand.
 

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