Clémence de Baudouin - Mémoire de l’École Nationale de la Santé Publique - 2006
A b s t r a c t
Indoor air quality (IAQ) in office buildings is a real public health topic. In fact, people who
work in tertiary sector spend a lot of time in their office. Moreover, there are more and
more complaints about IAQ in office buildings since several decades. A lot of
contaminants can be found in these buildings: they could be chemical, physical or
biological contaminants. They could be at the origin of some mild disease, like headaches,
nauseas, allergies, dizziness, tiredness, eye, throat or nose irritations… Furthermore they
could also create heavy diseases, like cancers.
The French observatory of IAQ (OQAI) wants to organize soon a study program on the
IAQ in office buildings to know whether these interior environments are polluted in France
and whether populations are exposed to these pollutants.
This study aims to prepare the future OQAI’s program proposing a study protocol.
To respond to this objective, a bibliographic synthesis has first been made. Specificities of
the topic have been shown. French data are scarce, so it has been decided to make a
little investigation close to occupational physicians. It has shown that it exists in France
some pathologies due to IAQ in office buildings.
At least, a study protocol for the OQAI’s program has been elaborated. Few sampling
plans have been proposed, and protocol phases have been developed.