[Air quality of premises and public health]

Indoor air quality is gaining increasing prominence as a public health problem in developed and developing countries. Its pollution brings about diseases (infectious, allergic, toxic, carcinogenic) or benign symptoms (without clear definition) grouped in the so-called Sick Building Syndrome. On the basis of 2 large surveys in air conditioned buildings the authors describe the main factors of this syndrome which is prominently observed in women and is multifactorial. The improvement of indoor air quality needs interaction among the diverse disciplines: architects, engineers, biologists and clinically oriented physicians.