newbie with questions...

[Guest guest]

Hi... I'm new to this whole " sick building " thing - but I figured

that talking to a large group of folks with similar stories would

help me... This is a bit short, and lacks a lot of detail - but

hopefully it gets the idea across. (please ask if it doesn't!)

Okay - strange beginning - I work for the Department of Public Health

of a large City.... and our building is not in the greatest shape...

I've worked here for 5 years... we've had a running joke that you

need to " immunize " yourself to the building - as every person who is

new to the building gets a serious upper respiratory infection within

the first 6 months of working here.... I have spoken to most of my co-

workers, and they all report having had a major URI when they were

new to the building - and no one doubts that it's the building's

fault...

However, no one gets any more worried about it than that... I think

mostly because everyone else is lucky enough to be fairly healthy,

and has not had any continued symptoms past the initial infection...

(We have had one employee die though of a mysterious lung ailment

that was kept really hush-hush... I thought because the woman was

very private - but, perhaps not...)

I myself am Asthmatic and have severe allergies (all pre-existing

conditions)... I've always caught anything and everything going

around, even at previous jobs - and so I didn't really think much

about the " building problem " until just recently.

Since October, I've had a new cold or some sort of illness every

three weeks or so.... and I just had a doctor's appointment last

night, and my pulmonary function tests came back with a lung function

reduction of 20%! I'm a singer, and even with Asthma, my lung

function has always been high, because of the regular " exercise " I

give my lungs through singing. (It took over 5 years to diagnose my

Asthma, due to my consistently high lung function results.)

I've been suffering from fatigue for the last 6 months or so - I've

been thinking it's my thyroid (haven't gotten test results back yet) -

but now, I'm not sure...

I love my job - but I'm now scared of staying (and scared of leaving -

economy being what it is)...

I see absolutely no way of convincing anyone that the building needs

help....

Just an example - all of the HVAC ducts in the building are filthy!

You see large visible " dust bunnies " hanging down like vines from the

vents... I asked the building manager why no one ever cleans the

vents - and his response was that the building was built in such a

way that the ducts are unreachable - they can't clean them - so they

don't even try! I wanted to know why they couldn't at least clean

the " superficial " outer area of the vents that could be reached, and

he basically said that it " wasn't worth it " - in other words, they

would have to pay the maintenance crew more $$ to do that, and they

didn't think it was worth the extra effort for a minimal result

(since they wouldn't be able to clean the entire ductwork).

I'm going to purchase an air cleaner for my office space - but I'm in

an open cubicle in a large atrium area - and so I'm doubtful of the

efficacy of this plan...

Anyway - I am seriously thinking of just leaving, since my health is

NOT worth the sacrifice for this job... but before I make a drastic

move based on my " suspicions " - does anyone know of a way to test

for " sick building " problems without having someone come out with the

environmental testing units? (in an ironic twist - the environmental

lab is in our building - so I'm sure that any testing they do would

come out " negative " )

I'd like to be more convinced that I'm making the right decision to

leave, before actually doing it...

Thanks!

-Meri