a Kuopio University Hospital , Kuopio , Finland.
b Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland , Kuopio , Finland.
Int J Environ Health Res. 2019 Oct;29(5):479-488. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2018.1550194. Epub 2018 Nov 26.
In this case study, hospital workers did suffer from symptoms related to the poor indoor air quality. To investigate reasons for symptoms MM40-survey and house inspection methods were performed. The study consisted of 49 operating rooms and 470 employees. MM-40 survey revealed that over 40% of the staff suffered from skin reactions, over 50% had upper respiratory tract symptoms and 25% suffered headaches. No reason for the staff's symptom could be found in the structural studies of workplaces. The mean air exchange rate of the rooms was 5.51/h. In total 61 materials and 49 indoor air samples were taken. The most frequently found compounds in the material samples were 2-ethyl-1-hexanol and aliphatic hydrocarbons. VOC emissions were high in some of the material samples and they presumably were the one reason for the workers' symptoms observed in some in of the rooms. However, indoor air VOC concentrations were low in most of the cases. According to the linear regression model emissions from flooring material couldn't explain the indoor air concentration of the VOCs. One reason for that was the high ventilation rates of the rooms, which presumably kept VOC levels in indoors low. In addition, VOC concentrations indoors were strongly related to the ongoing healthcare activities in the hospital.
在这项案例研究中，医院工作人员确实受到了与室内空气质量差有关的症状的困扰。为了调查症状的原因，采用了 MM40 调查和房屋检查方法。该研究包括 49 个手术室和 470 名员工。MM-40 调查显示，超过 40%的员工出现皮肤反应，超过 50%的员工出现上呼吸道症状，25%的员工出现头痛。在工作场所的结构研究中，没有发现员工症状的原因。这些房间的平均空气交换率为 5.51/h。总共采集了 61 种材料和 49 个室内空气样本。在材料样本中最常发现的化合物是 2-乙基-1-己醇和脂肪烃。一些材料样本中的 VOC 排放量很高，它们可能是导致某些房间中工人症状的原因之一。然而，在大多数情况下，室内空气 VOC 浓度较低。根据线性回归模型，地板材料的排放物无法解释 VOCs 的室内空气浓度。原因之一是这些房间的通风率很高，这可能使室内 VOC 水平保持较低。此外，室内 VOC 浓度与医院内正在进行的医疗保健活动密切相关。
