From spontaneous to strategic natural window ventilation: Improving indoor air quality in Swiss schools.

Natural window ventilation is frequently employed in schools in Europe and often leads to inadequate levels of human bioeffluents. However, intervention studies that verify whether recommended ventilation targets can be achieved in practice with reasonable ventilation regimes and that are also suitable for countries with cold winters are practically non-existent. To explore the initial situation in Switzerland we carried out carbon dioxide (CO) measurements during the winter in 100 classrooms, most of which (94%) had natural window ventilation.

Toward setting public health guidelines for chemicals in indoor settled dust?

Indoor settled dust may result in substantial human exposure to chemicals, especially by ingestion following hand-to-mouth or hand-to-object-to-mouth contact. As with other environmental media related to exposure, dust may thus be subject to regulation. An international scientific workshop was convened in Paris in September 2019 firstly to assess the relevance for public health of setting guidelines for indoor settled dust, and secondly to discuss scientific and technical challenges related to such guidelines.

Patients with environment-related disorders: comprehensive results of interdisciplinary diagnostics.

Background: Researchers dealing with environmental illnesses face complex diagnostic and methodological difficulties. Poor objective findings contrast with high subjective suffering and a firm belief that environmental exposure is the only source of complaints. The Basel pilot research project established a multi-modal assessment procedure and assessed complaints attributed to the environment.

Interactional behaviour as a marker for screening patients with environment-related complaints.

Background: Adequate assessment of symptoms of patients suffering from environmental illnesses requires appropriate procedures such as psychological and psychiatric diagnostics, medical screening and a thorough analysis of noxious environmental factors. The Basel pilot research project established a multi-methodological assessment procedure that meets these criteria. However, an exhaustive three-fold analysis is very costly in terms of both equipment and personnel, and hence the need for a heuristic approach and pre-screening persists.

[Psychiatric, medical and environmental factors in patients suffering from environment-related disorders].

Background: A multidisciplinary approach and a multi-modal methodology are needed to assess idiopathic environmental illnesses.

Sample: 61 patients took part in all diagnostic steps.

Method: In the Basel pilot research project on environmental illness, a threefold diagnostic approach was established: patients had a medical and allergological examination, a psychiatric and psychological exploration and an environmental analysis of their homes.

Are environmental medicine problems relevant in Switzerland?

Background And Aim: In Switzerland, the prevalence of health problems attributed to environmental exposures is unknown, and views differ regarding its magnitude. In the present study we investigated the frequency of environmentally related health problems amongst the patients of Swiss sentinel physicians and assessed symptoms and suspected environmental exposures.

Methods: During 2002, nearly 250 "Swiss Sentinel Surveillance Network" physicians were asked to record the number of patients presenting with environmental health problems and to complete a questionnaire inquiring about suspected environmental exposures and health problems.

[Quantitative and qualitative analyses in patients with environmentally related disorders].

Background: Diagnostics and therapy of environmentally related disorders are hampered by one-sided assumptions and by discrepancies between therapists' and patients' assessments of the disease cause.

Objectives: Discrepancies between patient and expert opinions are examined as to (1) whether the sample can be classified in subgroups according to the convergence or divergence between self and expert rating, (2) which features and (3) which disorder-related behaviour and concepts characterize these groups.

Methods: Medical, psychopathological and environmental symptoms were assessed and their relative influence evaluated.

Symptoms attributed to the environment--a systematic, interdisciplinary assessment.

Problem: To assess symptoms attributed to the environment from an interdisciplinary perspective and to evaluate the plausibility of the participants' individual theory of a causal relationship between exposure and health impairment.

Method: We assessed the medical, psychiatric and environmental background in every participant in an environmental medicine project and discussed the explanatory value of our findings for each reported symptom.

Results: Every second participant had at least one symptom that could be plausibly explained by simultaneously occurring medical, psychological or environmental findings.

Coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in indoor air.

Indoor air levels of coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (mono- and non-ortho substituted PCB) of various buildings were determined. As a consequence of the presence of joint sealings containing PCB, total PCB concentrations in indoor air up to 4,200 ng/m3 were detected (data based on a survey including 29 sampling sites). In a PCB contaminated industrial building, total indoor air PCB levels up to 13,000 ng/m3 were measured.