Sick building syndrome among office workers in relation to office environment and indoor air pollutant at an academic institution, Malaysia

made up of 188 (55%) female and 154 male (45%), from 14 different office buildingsmade up of administrative, faculties, centers, institutes and school, participated in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to determine symptoms related to SBS. Real time readings of IAQ parameters were conducted three times daily for 15 minutes /sampling point. Results: Results showed higher prevalence of the SBS symptoms generally among womendiagnosed asthma was positively associated with mucosal symptomscurrent smoking was significantly associated with skin symptomsand centralized air conditioning system, the use of photocopiers, printers or fax machines for more than 1 hour per day and installation of a new carpet in the office environment were significant risk factors of SBS. After adjusting for de- mographic characteristics, formaldehyde, ultrafine particle and total volatile organic compounds were significantly associated with mucosal symptoms. Conclusion: Demographic characteristics, indoor office environment and indoor air pollutants were significant risk factors of SBS among workers in this study. It is highly recommended to maintain good housekeeping and to isolate printers and photocopier machines from the main workplace since both were sources of particulates