"Sick buildings" More Than Hot Air
by Cynthia Snyder
Staff WriterPrinceton Packet
May 11, 1999
New Mason, Griffin & Pierson associate Carleen Steward urges business to address air quality issues in the workplace beffore they become law suits When it comes to air quality issues in the workplace, Carleen Steward, a new associate at the Princeton law firm of Mason, Griffin & Pierson, knows which way the wind blows - and it's not through the window in most of the energy-efficient modern office buildings that line the Route 1 corridor.
Look up. That vent in the ceiling above you brings comforting warmth in winter, cool breezes in summer, and microbial hordes all year long. "Air ducts accumulate dust, mold, dust mites, you name it," said Ms. Steward. "There are many types of mold, and some are extremely hazardous to humans - even fatal."
What began as a mild gust of protest by allergy sufferers has become a quickening gale as headlines about "sick building syndrome" - most recently, a chronically moldy Florida courthouse - sweep the nation. The dust-mite threat that has helped to turn air filtration systems, vacuum cleaners and hypoallergenic pillow stuffing into billion-dollar industries, has come to the officeplace.
Plants bred to filter formaldehyde, ammonia and other toxins from the indoor atmosphere are turning office cubicles into rain forests. And specialists called "industrial hygienists," who test air quality in commercial buildings and scour the ducts for microbial pollutants, have witnessed a ten-fold growth in competition over the last five years.
Meanwhile, the incidence of litigation, much of it tied to workers' compensation, is on the rise. A recent Time Magazine report chronicled the maladies of a Southwest Airlines reservation center in Texas where agents allegedly would line up for a daily aspirin dole two hours after arriving to work. One agent, claiming debilitating weakness and possible brain damage, has sued the airline and the HVAC company subcontracted for the building.
It's not all hype, according to Ms. Steward. "If a person has a problem, they have a problem," she said, noting that some employees who are sensitive to air-born allergens may have suffered for years without knowing that the problem was in their office ventilation system. Once the culprit is identified, she said, it then becomes the problem of building owners and managers who may be considered negligent or in breach of contract and held liable for hazardous conditions.
Severe headaches, fainting, seizures and stroke are among the more dramatic conditions linked to "sick building syndrome," a malady to which the airtight office buildings constructed after the energy crisis of the 1970s seem particularly prone. (You know you're in a "tight" building, said Ms. Steward, when you can't hear any noise from the outside.) According to the Time report, an estimated 70 million office workers in such impermeable structures breathe recycled air contaminated with mold toxins and hazardous gasses.
But even more dangerous than an overly tight seal, according to Ms. Steward, are those times when a wall is knocked out for renovations and expansions, and construction dust is inadvertently cycled throughout the building. "If the ducts are not closed off properly, the dust will go everywhere," she said, noting that the problem is most acute for medical facilities where dust can end up in patient areas or food preparation sites.
As a general rule, management should let workers know of renovation plans so that employees suffering from chronic ailments can be prepared. "Not just construction dust, but painting, new carpeting, new furniture - all these things can produce off-gassing," said Ms. Steward. Duct systems should be cleaned regularly, and painting should be done at night, with the air ducts shut off.
Ms. Steward, herself an allergy sufferer, became an air quality advocate by degrees. A former manager of budgets and financial analysis for F.A.O. Schwartz, she graduated cum laude from the Quinnipiac Collage School of Law in 1993, where she served as executive managing editor of the Connecticut Probate Law Journal.
Prior to joining Mason, Griffin & Pierson, the lifelong Middlesex County resident worked in the New Brunswick law offices of Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas, where, she said, "the firm was involved in a lot o chemical exposure cases." She began giving papers on indoor air quality issues, which led to national speaking engagements on the subject.
In Central New Jersey's pharmaceutical alley, Ms. Steward warned, companies need to be careful about what might get piped through the building from on-site laboratories. Some workers who suffer from such acute pulmonary conditions as Reactive Airways Dysfunction could be affected by a sudden exposure to certain chemicals.
"People should be made aware, from a prevention standpoint, of the dangers involved," said Ms. Steward.
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