State Tests Air In UConn Building

By WILLIAM HATHAWAY
Courant Staff Writer

January 20 2005

A University of Connecticut Health Center building was tested by school and state inspectors for environmental threats after the deaths in the past month of two employees who worked there.

The two employees died within a week of each other and both worked on the first floor of the Dowling South Building in the billing department with about 60 other employees, said Jane Shaskan, a spokeswoman for UConn Health Center.

Inspectors from the Connecticut Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted tests Wednesday after facility managers from UConn tested the building's air and ventilation system on Tuesday.

"People investigating found no reason to believe the deaths are related to the work environment," Shaskan said.

Medical experts believe that the cause of death of the two employees, whose names and ages were not released, were different and unrelated to each other, said Dr. Eileen Storey, chief of the division of occupational and environmental medicine at UConn Health Center.

"However, several people have respiratory symptoms they believe are related to the building, and we are taking that very seriously," Storey said.

The area of the building that houses the University Medical Group Financial Services department has a separate air and ventilation system. No mold or water damage was found, Shaskan said. After the deaths of their co-workers, employees became concerned the building might represent a health threat, she added.

"The people there are very close to each other, and what I think happened is that rumors started to spread that the deaths were related and people panicked," said Storey. She said medical professionals at the health center do not believe an infectious disease was involved in the deaths.

The building will be monitored and additional tests may be conducted, Storey said. Financial service employees continue to work in the area.