3800 - SECONDARY EMISSIONS FROM INDOOR OZONE CHEMISTRY: UNRECOGNIZED RISK TO WORK WELL-BEING

Session: 3799 - RETHINKING OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING IN THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES
AUTHORS:
Li Guiquan (Department of Managerial and Social Psychology, Peking University ~ Beijing ~ China)
Abstract text:

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a potentially important yet poorly characterized factor influencing the well-being of office workers. In this study, we conducted a 21-day panel study involving 141 workers in two 270 m2 open-plan offices. High-time-resolution measurements were made for a comprehensive list of indoor air pollutants, including PM2.5, ozone, CO2, and hundreds of volatile organic compounds. Work well-being was assessed twice a day using an experience sampling method. Results from single-variable linear mixed models revealed that negative emotions exhibited the strongest sensitivity to daily indoor environmental exposure, particularly to ozone, skin-oil ozonolysis products, and human bioeffluents. Multivariable analysis further demonstrated a more robust association between negative emotions and ozonolysis products, compared to ozone and human bioeffluents. After adjusting for ozone and other potential confounders, per interquartile range increase in concentrations of a characteristic ozonolysis product, decanal, was associated with an increase in mean negative emotion scores of 0.056 [95% CI: 0.025, 0.087]. This effect size is meaningful, given the average score of 1.449 on a 5-point scale. The association remained significant even after accounting for baseline emotional state at the start of work. Further individual-level analysis revealed that employees with lower baseline job satisfaction were more susceptible to ozonolysis products.