‘Allergic’ to your office? You might have ‘sick building syndrome’

This kind of “sick time” is no work perk.

Since the term was coined in the early 1980s by the World Health Organization, “sick building syndrome” (SBS) has been used to describe the array of irritating symptoms some people feel when inside certain buildings, from headaches and fatigue to nausea and brain fog.

It’s a relatively vague problem with no clear cause, but that doesn’t make it any less real for the potentially millions of people who experience a form of it either at work or in other indoor settings.

Speaking to SELF magazine, some people have recently reported sneezing, uncontrollable coughing, severe itchiness and dizziness after just 10 minutes inside their office buildings — and then a total dissipation of symptoms the moment they step outside.

It’s for this reason that allergy experts like Dr. Leonard Bielory, a professor at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, have said the name of the condition describes the structure, not the patient.

“It’s the building that’s sick, not the person,” he told SELF.

Indeed, SBS is typically associated with a long list of environmental hazards found in everyday buildings, such as low indoor air quality or lack of ventilation, the presence of mold or dust, chemical contaminants on furniture or in cleaning supplies, water damage or too much humidity, fluorescent lights and lack of sunshine and toxins from pest control. 

Not to mention the psychological stress of having to grin and bear it through daily rounds of awkward elevator small talk. 

Interestingly, researchers have found that SBS disproportionately affects women.

A 2023 review in the journal Indoor and Built Environment found that women appeared to have higher symptom frequency due to a mix of “historical factors, social roles, lower cold tolerance, limited understanding of female physiology and multiple chemical sensitivity.”

Two years later, another study in China also revealed that gender was closely associated with SBS. 

That same study found that of all new and renovated buildings, close to 30% “suffer from SBS” and that since the 1970s, “the reporting frequency of sick building syndrome has been increasing, as older, naturally ventilated buildings have gradually been replaced by air-conditioned and sealed buildings.”

Skin issues and general symptoms like dizziness, respiratory troubles, anxiety and digestive distress were some of the leading problems female participants reported. 

Researchers believe this could have something to do with the statistically higher prevalence of autoimmune dysfunction in women, who are more likely to develop conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and scleroderma.

Room temperature also emerged as a key factor in the 2023 paper. 

Dr. Kathryn Basford, a London-based physician who specializes in women’s health, told SELF that men naturally give off more heat than women. Consequently, women often need rooms to be warmer, “which could leave them feeling more uncomfortable in office spaces,” she said.

In open plan offices, too, viruses can spread more quickly, leading some people — including this person on Reddit — to feel like they often get sick from going into work.

The 2025 study from China noted that there are ways to enhance indoor environments to better suit their human inhabitants. More plants, better air quality, lighting and environmental control and reduced noise are all “vital” strategies for human wellbeing.

Medical News Today has reported that property designers and architects are the first line of defense against SBS, suggesting that their focus should be on building layout, lighting and ventilation that facilitate harmony — as a matter of “general public safety.” 

One woman who experiences frequent SBS symptoms at her office job told SELF that she believes the problem is neglected because of cultural expectations that women should endure discomfort in silence.

“If [employers] are wanting to get people back into the office, then it’s also something that they should consider,” she said. “I would definitely want to spend more time in the office if I didn’t feel exhausted and inflamed every time I went there.”