What Is Happening to Me?

Maybe you know there’s a problem with your home or workplace. Maybe you found mold, experienced water damage, learned of chemical or drug contamination, or discovered another environmental concern.

Or maybe you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore.

Headaches. Dizziness. Fatigue. Sinus congestion. Coughing or wheezing. Burning or watery eyes. Skin irritation. Nausea. Difficulty concentrating. Changes in sleep or appetite. Recurring ear or sinus problems. Perhaps even unexplained changes in weight.

Or maybe you can’t describe it at all.

You just don’t feel right.

Then you notice that you feel different when you leave the building.

That doesn’t tell us what caused your symptoms, but it’s information worth paying attention to.

Symptoms Can Be Clues

There is no single set of symptoms that means “contaminated building.”

Mold and damp environments can affect the respiratory system and trigger allergic responses. Chemical exposures and volatile organic compounds may cause irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and other effects. Bacteria, viruses, contaminated water, sewage, combustion products, illicit drug residues, and other biological or chemical contaminants present their own potential health concerns.

The important questions are:

What might be present, and could I be exposed to it?

Why Am I Affected When Someone Else Isn’t?

Four people in an office may be experiencing symptoms while twenty others feel fine. One spouse may be struggling while the other notices nothing.

People are different.

Age, genetics, allergies, asthma, immune function, existing health conditions, medications, previous exposures, sensitization, and overall health can influence how someone responds to environmental stressors. Researchers also continue to study genetic and immune-response differences, including HLA-related factors, that may contribute to individual susceptibility.

Exposure can differ too.

Where you work or sleep, how much time you spend there, your proximity to a source, how air moves through the space, the concentration of a contaminant, and the length and route of exposure can all matter.

Someone else feeling fine doesn’t mean you must feel fine.

And other people becoming sick doesn’t mean you inevitably will.

Children Deserve Special Consideration

Children are not simply smaller adults.

Infants and young children are still developing. Their lungs are less mature, they breathe more air relative to their body size than adults, and they spend more time close to floors where dust and particles settle. These differences can increase their exposure to environmental contaminants.

Damp and moldy environments have been associated with coughing, wheezing, respiratory problems, allergic responses, and the development or worsening of asthma. For people with weakened immune systems, certain mold infections can be severe and even life-threatening.

A baby or young child may not be able to tell you:

“I feel worse when I’m in this room.”

They depend on the adults around them to notice changes and investigate the environment. When significant mold or another environmental hazard is known to be present, unnecessary continued exposure should not be taken lightly.

Whatever Happened to Sick Building Syndrome?

The term Sick Building Syndrome has been used for decades to describe situations where people experience symptoms associated with time spent in a building without a specific illness or identifiable cause being established.

Today, we can investigate much more.

Moisture, humidity, ventilation, HVAC operation, pressure relationships, microbial growth, chemical contaminants, particulate matter, and water systems can all provide clues.

Sometimes we find an identifiable problem. Sometimes we don’t.

Rather than simply labeling a building “sick,” ask:

What changed? What’s present? Where is it? How could someone be exposed?

The Building and the Person

There are two sides to an environmental health concern.

An environmental professional investigates the building.

A healthcare professional evaluates the person.

A building investigation may identify mold, moisture, microbial contamination, chemical residues, ventilation problems, contaminated materials, or other environmental conditions.

Medical evaluation helps determine what is happening within the individual.

Neither replaces the other.

Understanding what is happening to you often begins with understanding what is happening around you.

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