AUSTIN, Texas—The question of whether a dramatic post-World War II rise in asthma and allergies can be traced to the closed spaces in which we spend so much of our time will be addressed during a lecture Thursday (April 25) by Dr. Charles Weschler at The University of Texas at Austin.
The lecture, which will include discussion about "sick building syndrome," will begin at 4 p.m. in Auditorium 1.202 of Ernest Cockrell Jr. (ECJ) Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Weschler, a professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is considered an expert on the chemistry of indoor environments, where a staggering range of chemicals — from ordinary cleaning products to ozone to fumes from wallboard — can combine with inadequate ventilation to trigger “sick building syndrome”.
Weschler will talk about the compounds in indoor environments and concerns about how they might react with each other in an injurious way. He will discuss the impact of a building trend that began during the energy crisis of the 1970s to construct tightly sealed, heavily insulated structures that are dependent for air circulation on sophisticated heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.
For more information, contact Becky Rische, College of Engineering (512) 471-7272; Dr. Richard Corsi, director of the Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment (512) 475-8617; or visit the Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment Web site.
