Reducing Illness-causing Contaminants

Improving Health and Attendance Levels

• When employees and students attend work or school and suffer from health related symptoms such as respiratory illness, allergies and headaches their performance suffers.  "Presenteeism" is a term used to describe this problem.
  
• Presenteeism symptoms relating directly to inadequate cleaning include:
  - dry and scratchy eyes caused by dust from ineffective vacuuming,
  - headaches and nausea caused by VOCs from cleaning products,
  - and allergic reactions and flu symptoms caused by bacterial contamination
    from molds and fungi.

Performance cleaning can reduce contaminant levels.

• Dr. Michael Berry, author of Protecting the Built Environment: Cleaning for Health, was able to quantify
  reductions in contaminant
  levels when improved
  cleaning methods were
  used.  Reducing the
  source of the problems can
  improve the health of
  building occupants.²