A Canadian office worker, said to suffer from "environmental hypersensitivity", was once given a "chemical filter mask" by her boss as an aid to surviving in their office. Research now shows that such individuals are "the office equivalent of the canary in the coal mine" and can cue in managers to the dangers of a toxic workplace.

Did you know that "laser printer emissions are as bad for the lungs as a lit cigarette", that ventilation systems circulate "noxious gases", that mold can infest cubicle walls, that office copiers can give you headaches, or that too many hours in office chairs can transform your body into a "distinct pear shape"? Apparently they can, and the article at the link below will inform you of these and other environmental hazards that besiege the office. It notes that office workers are a captive population, hundreds of "living, breathing and sweating bodies in a sealed room eight hours a day" who are "as dependent on good air circulation as airline passengers."

"Breathe easy? Not when the office may be toxic" from Globe And Mail