A previous observational study detected a strong positive relationship between sick leave absences and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in office buildings in the Boston area. The authors speculated that the observed association was due to a causal effect associated with low dilution ventilation, perhaps increased airborne transmission of respiratory infections. This study was undertaken to explore this association.
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. tmyatt@hsph.harvard.edu <tmyatt@hsph.harvard.edu>
