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"C MCMXC-MCMXCII, CBS Inc. All rights reserved. Prepared by Burrelle's Information Services, which takes sole responsibility for accuracy of transcription. N'o license is granted to the user of this material other than for research. User may not reproduce any printed copy of this matenal' for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe CBS Inc.'s copyrights or proprietary interests in such materials. "' Strike RETURN to continue ... DOCUMENT: I of 1 **CBS Evening News** Oct 12, 1:992 6:30-7:00 PM CBS C MCMXCII CBS Inc. All rights reserved. Segment: Newscast: An in-depth look at sick-building syndrome Nielsen: 11558700 DAN RATHER, anchor: You're feeling a bit under the weather. You think you may be coming down with something, a cold or the flu. It could be you picked up a bug down at work from a co-worker or just maybe you caught it fiotn the building. Erin **Hayes** reports tonight's Eye on America. ERIN **HAYES** reporting: In the new Du Page County, Illinois, courthouse, something is in the air. Unidentified Woman #1: I used to pass out. I'd walk in and pass out. And they moved me... **HAYES**: You would pass out at work? Woman #1: Mm-hmm. Unidentified Woman #2: Headaches, awful headaches. Unidentified'~ Woman #3: Sinus problems, nosebleeds. Unidentified Woman #4: Eyes that burned. Unidentified Man #1: Rashes, difficulty breathing. 0

Unidentified Man #2: My lips and tongue would go numb after I was in here about an hour. Unidentified Woman A`5: Attorneys who run down from court, vomit, and go back to court. **HAYES**: The air inside the beautiful, year old, $53 million courthouse was full of chemicals from the new carpet, marble, furniture, and those chemicals hung in the air for months because the ventilation was inadequate. Mr. JOEL KAGANN (Du Page County Court Clerk): Eighty-two percent of my people have been affected at one time or the other. I have 18 employees that have been ordered out of the building on doctors' orders. Unidenti'fied' Man #3: Check-in where the sign says and then you go in the courtroom. **HAYES**: Finally, judges, attorneys, courts and clerks, everybody moved out... Unidentified Woman #6: But I'm positive Mr. Neno's over at 501. **HAYFS**: ...until the air problem gets fixed. A unique situation? Hardly. Bartow, Florida, 200 people complained about the air in this building; it shut down. Washington, DC, EPA employees who worked here are suing over the air inside. Sick-building syndrome is said to affect millions of American workers and many don't have a clue what's maldng them feel so bad. That's how it was at first in the Du Page County Courthouse. Unidentified Woman #7: I thought I was the only one sick, she thought she was the only one sick, she thought she was the only one. Until you got together and said, 'Oh, geez, you know, there's something to this.' **HAYES**: I've been in this building three and a half hours now and my eyes sting, I've got a headache, my head is stuffy, and frankly, I feel generally kind of crummy. Is it the building? Is it allergies? Could it be the power of suggestion? Well, the problem is there's just no way to know, unless it gets a lot worse. For some, it did. Seven months after th courthouse opened, ambulances were called. People were now seriously ill. Mr. CHASSEE (Husband of Employee): She would come home. She'd--she'd go upstairs in the bathroom, she'd be vomiting. **HAYFS**: Lori Chassee's husband had nagged her for months to see a doctor. 0 ~~I

Mrs. LORI CHASSEE (Employee): So we talked about the 3:00 nap time, people asleep at their desks, inability to wake up. But you do it almost tongue-in-cheek and there's a lot of laughing about it and laughing about the people that are sickest. **HAY'ES**: She became one of them. Exposure to the building's chemicals, her doctor said, caused nerve damage in her face. Mrs. CHASSEE: My head hurts so bad that I'm nauseous, and I know if I vomit, my head~ will explode. Ms. CLAUDETTE- LEWIS (Employee): On the weekends, I was fine. I could function. And then on Monday morning, you'd go back and it'd start all over again.. **HAYES**: Claudette Lewis has come down with chronic fatigue syndrome. Her doctor told her to work at home until the courthouse air is guaranteed clean. Ms. LEWIS: And I like my job and I like the people I work with, and I want it to work. I want to work. I don't want to stay home. **HAYES**: Quietly, across the country... Unidentified Man #4: Not exactly an easy access. **HAYFS**: ...private testing companies like Honeywell are being hired by building owners... Unidentified Man #5: You mentioned headaches... **HAYES,**: ...to check out similar complaints. Mr. DEAN RASK (Honeywell Engineer): I think everybody pretty much agrees that it's a growing problem in the '90s. **HAYES**: Part of the problem, many buildings are sealed to save energy. Ms. CHARLENE BAYER (Environmental' Scientist): In most buildings that we're in, 50 percent to 90 percent of the air is recirculated. That means it just goes around and around and around. **HAYES**. There are almost no regulations to protect workers from sick-build'ing syndrome, but it is the number one complaint to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health.

Mr. RICHARD LEMEN (National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health): We're putting a lot of effort into trying to determine what is a sick building, what is good indoor environmental quality, and how do we have a safe and healthful workplace for all workers? **HAYFS**: And we don't have those answers right now? Mr. LEMEN: No, we don't. **HAYES**: If you were going to give advice to anybody else who thinks they have a sick building, what would you tell them? Unidentified Woman #8: Get out as soon as they can before it gets too bad. **HAYES**: Or at least raise a stink if you believe the air you're breathing is bad. In Chicago, this is Erin **Hayes** for Eye on America. - RATHER: OK, if you suspect there's a problem where you work, there's a to11-free number you can call. It's the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. The number: 1(8U0) 356-4674. That's 1 (800) 356-4674. The agency probably will check out your building if at least three people complain. INDEX: Health Government United States I