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Sick Again
October 10th, 2008 | Stephen Bailey
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I can almost hear them as they combine and mutate. Their disgusting rituals of reproduction in dark, unclean places go unnoticed until their matured spawn escape and plan a surprise attack.
And what happens when they do? Where do these vermin want to go? Your lungs perhaps. Your sinuses. Your bowels. They like it dank and they like it dark. You try to fight it but you can't win. They out number you and are too small to see.
No, this is not a recap of some new cheesy Hollywood fright flick starring some pretty faces as doomed pretty faces. It's another reason that I really need to get out of working in that cubicle shanty town known as the American office building.
As I sit here, sick yet again with aches and respiratory grossness clogging up my head and chest, I got to thinking. I remembered reading about a condition that at first sounded like a hypochondriac's dream. But in the seven months since I've been anchored in a decrepit office space, I've been sick more often than in the entire two years I was freelancing. Why?
Known as 'Sick Building Syndrome', the causes of recurring illness in the workplace stem from poor ventilation mixed with chemical and biological contaminants. Come to think of it, this actually would make a good, cheesy Hollywood … nevermind.
The idea of microbiological fuckers incubating in the air vents above me, waiting to attack was awful enough. However, what's worse is how the macrobiological (I made that word up) fuckers known as American corporate heads stumbled upon this way to infect us as a consequence to saving some money.
It's true (and I'm no conspiracy wacko). Now bear with me on this …
At the turn of the 20th century until the early 1970s, ventilation standards called for about 15 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of outside air to be circulated indoors for each building occupant. This was mainly to dilute and remove body odors and had little to do with neutralizing contaminants because folks were largely unaware of such a problem at the time. They would become aware soon…
In 1973, when oil embargoes created a national energy crisis, a dubious decision was made to help alleviate sky-high power costs. The standard was changed to reduce the amount of outdoor air provided for ventilation to 5 cfm per occupant.
Soon after this is when those microbiological fuckers started their party. It was a completely unforeseen side effect of saving money that went way beyond having to deal with some coworker's offensive body odor.
Now this next bit seems obvious to me, but what the hell … I'm no big, smart head of some big corporation.
Inadequate ventilation, which occurs if heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems do not effectively distribute air to people in the building, is thought to be an important factor in 'Sick Building Syndrome'.
Duh!
In an effort to achieve acceptable air quality, ventilation standards were revised in 1989 to once again provide a minimum of 15 cfm of outdoor air per person (20 cfm per person in office spaces). Unfortunately for some older buildings (like the hole in which I currently work), this change was too little, too late.
The only good I can see coming from this is how it further inspires me to live my mobile life. My office and home on wheels. My environment changing on my command. My air quality following suit.
Now if I can just get that Led Zeppelin tune out of my head…
Related Topics: career, health, life
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Sick Again
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)