Eye symptoms and signs in buildings with indoor climate problems ('office eye syndrome')

Break-up time measurements and Lissamine green staining were performed on 169 office workers in 4 town halls in Copenhagen where the occupants complained about the indoor air quality. In a questionnaire investigation one year before the study it was found that 25% of all the employees had eye irritation several times a week. A statistically significant association (P less than 0.025) was found between eye irritation and unstable precorneal film (reduced break-up time) and/or lissamine green stained epithelial damage. There was a significant rank correlation between eye irritation and different degrees of dry eyes (P less than 0.00006). The investigation proved that eye irritation associated with indoor climate problems can be related to objective pathological changes in the eyes as found in the dry eyes. The findings constitute a new syndrome which I propose to name the 'office eye syndrome'.