Health
Is Work Making You Sick?
By
Mar 26, 2006, 20:48

(ARA) - It all starts with the coughing in the next cubicle, or the sneeze by a coworker in the conference room. Before long, everyone in your area gets sick. Cold and flu have shown up for work and everyone seems to catch it.

More than just close quarters, your work might be making you sick. Or at least working in your building, according to the World Health Organization, which has been tracking this phenomenon called “Sick Building Syndrome” since 1982. And it’s more serious than people think. “There are multiple symptoms associated with Sick Building Syndrome,” said Dr. Kelly Reynolds, microbiologist at The University of Arizona. “This can include eye, nose and throat irritation, skin rash, headaches, frequent throat infections or coughs, hoarseness or wheezing, nausea and dizziness.”

The accumulation and transfer of germs in indoor environments have a significant impact on the fact that five to twenty percent of the U.S. population will develop influenza this year, on average missing three days of work. With more than 200,000 cases serious enough to be hospitalized and close to 36,000 deaths from the flu or its symptoms, this highly infectious disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S.

“We’ve known for years that air conditioning and office ventilation systems, which continuously circulate contaminated air throughout the building, were the main culprit in spreading germs and bacteria,” Reynolds added. But besides frequent handwashing, there wasn’t much available to solve the problem.

New UV-C technology may change all that. By penetrating the nucleus of airborne pathogens, ultraviolet light renders them sterile and incapable of spreading. “Long been used in hospitals and other commercial settings, this technology has exciting consumer potential in the war on germs,” she noted. “In fact, a new product, the Germ Guardian air sanitizer, is now available. It uses UV-C light to kill more than 99.9 percent of targeted airborne germs.”

The Germ Guardian is an air sanitizer that uses a quiet, yet powerful fan to pull air through a specially-constructed UV-C chamber. As air is pulled into the intensifier chamber, the UV-C, ultraviolet light destroys 99.9 percent of the targeted airborne germs and the sanitized air is circulated back into the room. With the ability to process a massive 700 cubic feet of germ-laden air per hour, the Germ Guardian is effective in almost any size room.

While an occasional sick day may do wonders for employee mental health, incorporating UV-C technology into an office setting may actually allow them to call in sick, without being sick.

For more information on the Germ Guardian visit www.germguardian.com or call (866) 603-5900.
Courtesy of ARA Content

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