Slowly decreasing mucosal hyperreactivity years after working in a school with moisture problems.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Occupational Medicine
• Rhinology

Background:

• Water-damaged buildings can negatively impact occupant health.
• Nasal hyperreactivity is a potential indicator of indoor environmental exposure effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the persistence of nasal hyperreactivity in teachers from a renovated water-damaged school.
• To assess changes in nasal reactivity and symptoms over a 2-year period following remedial measures.

Main Methods:

• Follow-up study involving teachers from a previously identified water-damaged school and a control school.
• Histamine provocation tests using rhinostereometry to measure nasal reactivity.
• Questionnaires on indoor air quality symptoms and environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity, dust, CO2, formaldehyde, TVOC).

Main Results:

• Teachers in the renovated water-damaged school continued to exhibit increased nasal histamine reactivity compared to controls, though the difference lessened over time.
• Subjective complaints about indoor air quality persisted but decreased in frequency among teachers in the target school.
• Environmental measurements in both schools were within typical ranges for northern countries, showing no significant differences.

Conclusions:

• Nasal mucosal hyperreactivity in teachers exposed to a water-damaged school environment persists for years, even after successful remediation.
• The hyperreactivity appears to decrease slowly over time post-renovation.
• Indoor environmental quality remediation may not fully reverse established physiological responses in affected individuals.