Office equipment and supplies: A modern occupational health concern?

The Helsinki Office Environment Study, a population-based cross-sectional s tudy was carried out in Finland in 1991 among 2,678 workers in 41 randomly selected office buildings. The aim was to evaluate the relations between wo rk with office equipment and supplies and the occurrence of eye, nasopharyn geal, skin, and general symptoms (often denoted as sick building syndrome ( SBS)), chronic respiratory symptoms, and respiratory infections. Work with self-copying paper was significantly related to weekly work-related eye, na sopharyngeal, and skin symptoms, headache and lethargy, as well as to the o ccurrence of wheezing, cough, mucus production, sinusitis, and acute bronch itis. Photocopying was related to nasal irritation, and video display termi nal work to eye symptoms, headache, and lethargy.