Two Sensitive Sick-building Syndrome Patients Possibly Responding to p-Dichlorobenzene and 2-Ethyl-1-Hexanol: Case Report

Sick-building syndrome (SBS) symptoms associated with indoor air volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in new or newly remodeled houses have been increasingly highlighted, and are known as “sick house syndrome” in Japan. In the course of the investigation of SBS patients, we found two sensitive patients who complained of severe symptoms and had elevated serum levels of p-dichlorobenzene and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol. One patient was a housewife, who complained of various symptoms such as headache, itching eyes, nasal irritation, and night sweats and had a high serum level of p-dichlorobenzene (25.4 ng/ml). She showed some improvement of symptoms in association with the gradual decrease in p-dichlorobenzene concentrations in both her bedroom and her serum. The other patient was a female professor who had experienced mainly respiratory symptoms, such as nonproductive cough, throat irritation, etc. when she entered her office, classrooms, and a faculty meeting room in a university building. Her serum 2-ethyl-1-hexanol concentration was 4.6 ng/ml, which was more than 7.7-fold higher than that in four other patients with other onsets. The elevation of her serum 2-ethyl-1-hexanol level was assumed to be due to daily exposure in the university building.