Indoor environmental pollutants and their association with sick house syndrome among adults and children in elementary school

Abstract Sick house syndrome (SHS) derived from sick building syndrome (SBS) is used to describe symptoms that inhabitants experience due to indoor environment and personal factors, and children might be more susceptible to the effects of SHS than adults. However, there have been no comprehensive studies on effects of indoor pollutants exposure in relation to SHS. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the association between indoor pollutants and SHS in children and adults who live in the same dwelling. This is a cross-sectional study on 184 elementary school children and 273 adults/adolescents in Sapporo, Japan. Indoor pollutants were measured in air and dust collected from 128 dwellings. Results showed children (20.6%) have higher prevalence of any symptoms than adults/adolescents (15.1%). Among SHS, mucosal symptoms were the most common in both children and adults/adolescents. Doctor diagnosed allergies, building age, dampness, and ventilation system showed significant association with prevalence of SHS. Formaldehyde, di(isobutyl) phthalate (DiBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di(isononyl) phthalate (DiNP), endotoxin, and β-glucan were detected in all dwellings. Any symptoms and mucosal symptoms were significantly associated with the exposure to 2-ethyl-1-hexanol (2E1H). Floor dust DiNP, multi-surface dust Tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate with mucosal symptoms and endotoxin with dermal symptoms were inversely associated in adults/adolescent. Multi-surface dust DiBP also showed inverse association with mucosal symptoms in children. 2E1H emission increased with dampness in the dwellings thus, eliminating dampness in the dwellings may reduce the emissions of 2E1H and the risk of SHS in residents.