单选题 Since sick building syndrome (综合病症) (SBS) shares symptoms with many prevalent maladies (疾病), from the common cold to allergies and asthma, it can be easily overlooked. The condition is typically recognized only after a group of people occupying the same building come down with the classic symptoms, especially if those symptoms wane during the evening and on weekends.
Given a poorly ventilated (使通风), airtight (不漏气的，密封的)building, SBS is believed to be caused by one of two general categories of pollution. The first, typical of flew or newly renovated buildings, is chemical pollution. That "new smell" you get when first moving into a new house is actually the odor of chemical vapors being given off by paint, glue (胶), carpeting and other construction materials. Formaldehyde (甲醛), which is considered a probable human carcinogen (致癌物), is one of the many volatile organic compounds (VOCs)(挥发性有机化合物)commonly released in the vapors; it can be extremely irritating to the mucous membranes (粘膜).
The classic case of Chemical SBS occurred, ironically, at EPA headquarters in Washington, D. C. , where large areas of new carpeting were installed during renovations; 60 people became sick and 10 were hospitalized. One cure is to crack up the heat and cook VOCs opt before people move in. A more persistent form of SBS is caused by biological contaminants, including bacteria and now, researchers have learned, fungi. Both require moisture, and their breeding grounds are typically stagnant water, either in a building's ventilation system or trapped in ceiling tiles or carpeting after a leak.