The Effectiveness of E.aureum in Reducing Carbon dioxide, Particular Matter and Sick Building Syndrome Among Office Workers in Private Hospitals

Abstract

The Background: Indoor contaminant was higher than outdoor about 2 – 5 times because of activities of in the building. The activities
that impacted to risk of contaminant included of copying and printing from either printers or photocopiers were a pollutant and
potentially cause health problems. The particles less than 2.5 and 10 micrometers could get to lower respiratory tract and increase
the incidence of pneumonia which more than two million people died from pneumonia every year and was the second most common
cause of death in people with lung cancer.
The main aim of this research was an experiment to improving indoor air quality by used green energy of E.aureum (golden pathos
plant) in reducing carbon dioxide, particular matters (PM) and sick building syndrome (SBS) among office workers in network hospitals
of Bangkok Dusit Medical Services PLC (BDMS). It was a real-life setting study in multi-center of 4 areas.
Material and Methods: The research tools included the direct reading for collecting data of air quality in building and the
questionnaire for gathering data of symptom of sick building syndrome. The duration of experiment was 18 weeks. The study used a
quantitative approach with descriptive statistical analysis and general linear model repeated measure (Two-way ANOVA).
Result and Conclusion: This study revealed that E.aureum had an effectiveness in improving air quality. It reduced quantity of
particular matter that smaller than 2.5 and 10 microns for a significance level of 0.05 and also decreased sick building syndrome
among office workers in every area for a significance level of 0.01 within 18 weeks. In conclusion, the emplacement of E.aureum with
65 ± 5 leaves, average length between both sides of its leaves about 3.6 – 3.9 square meters, average height about 25 centimeters,
in a 6-inch diameter pot with aluminum foil coverage, wall-type hanging at a plant per 2 cubic meters, 10 – 20 ml watering and yellow
or dried leaves removing every 3 days could significantly decrease sick building syndrome among office workers and significantly
improve indoor air quality.