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Jan Vilhelm Bakke, research fellow, Section for Occupational Medicine

Name: Jan Vilhelm Bakke, consultant occupational physician
Birth: 24 04 51,
Work address: Section of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen
Kalfarveien 31, N-5018 Bergen, Norway
Telephone +47 55 58 81 10, Mob +47 995 29 966
E-mail: jan.bakke@isf.uib.no

Indoor air quality and climate
Main area of research is in indoor air quality and climate, exposure, effect, risk assessment and management. My project at the institute is an intervention study in university buildings comprising an intervention group of 100 persons in two buildings with indoor environmental problems connected to moisture. A corresponding control group is located in two similar buildings with about 100 exposed persons. The project started winter 2003/04 and is supposed to be finished 2005/06

Education

  • 1977 Cand. Med. University of Oslo
  • 1979 Authorisation as physician in Norway
  • 1985 Approved -Occupational Physician by the Norwegian Medical Association
  • 1993 Consultant occupational physician
  • 1995 Approved Supervisor in Occupational Medicine by the Norwegian Medical Association
Work Experience
  • 1980-1986 Occupational physician and leader of Gjoevik Occupational Health Service, Gjoevik
  • 1985-1986 Assistant resident at National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo
  • 1986-dd Consultant/adviser/principal medical officer at the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority
  • 1998-dd Part time principal medical officer at Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen
  • 2003-dd Research fellow at Section of Occupational Medicine on a grant from The Norwegian Research Council
  • 2004-dd Part time senior scientific officer in environmental medicine at NTNU -Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Faculty of Eengineering Science and Technology, Department of Energy and Process Engineering
Other selected activities and works


Selected reports and publications

  • Bakke JV. Overfølsomhet i luftveiene og kjemiske stoffer. Nordiske Seminar og Arbejdsrapporter 1993:54, Nordisk Ministerråd, København 1993. 168 s, tabeller, illustrasjoner.
  • Knudsen BB, Bakke JV. Allergy, hypersensitivity and chemicals. Summary and Conclusions. NKB Nordic Committee and Work Reports 1993:01 E. Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 1993.
  • Flyvholm MA, Bakke JV. Testing and discussion of the proposed criteria for the ability of chemical substances to cause allergy and hypersensitivity in the skin and the lower airways. Summary Report. Nordic Committee on Building Regulations, NKB, Indoor Climate Committee. NKB Committee and Work Reports 1994:03 E. Helsinki 1994.
  • Bakke JV, Nordman H. Epidemiological evidence for increase in allergy and other hypersensitivity in the airways. In: Flyvhom MA, Ed. Criteria for classification of skin- and airway-sensitizing substances in the work and general environments. WHO, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen 1997, p 42-62.
  • Flyvholm MA, Bakke JV. Introduction to the Nordic proposal for a classification system for chemical allergens present in the working environment. In: Flyvhom MA, Ed. Criteria for classification of skin- and airway-sensitizing substances in the work and general environments. WHO, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen 1997, p 22-41.
  • Bye E, Bakke JV, Rogstad Grov T. Kjemisk-fysiske forhold i arbeid av betydning for helse. Kunnskapsmangler og forskningsbehov. HD-1095/98 FOU. Statens Arbeidsmiljøinsitutt, Norges Forskningsråd, Arbeidstilsynet. Oslo oktober 1998.
  • Ahlbom A, Backman A, Bakke J, Foucard T, Halken S, Kjellman NIM, Malm L, Skerfving S, Sundelll J, Zetterström O. "NORDPET". Pets Indoors - A Risk Factor For or Protection Against Sensitisation/Allergy. A Nordic Interdisciplinary Review of the Scientific Literature Concerning the Relationship between the Exposure to Pets at Home, Sensitisation and the Development of Allergy. Indoor Air 1998; 8: 219-35.
  • Andersson K, Bakke JV, Bjørseth O, Bornehag CG, Clausen G, Hongslo JK, Kjellman M, Kjærgaard S, Levy F, Mølhave L, Skerfving S, Sundell J. TVOC and health in non-industrial environments. Report from a Nordic Scientific Consencus Meeting at Långholmen in Stockholm 1996. Indoor Air 1997; 7: 78-91.

Jan Vilhelm Bakke, Bente Moen. Markers of health effect and environmental exposure due to humidity problems in university buildings - an intervention study (INKA)

Section for Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Bergen University. E-mail: jan.bakke@arbeidstilsynet.dep.no - jan.bakke@isf.uib.no

Cooperating partners in the study
The project is carried out in buildings owned by Bergen University and in cooperation with Department of occupational medicine, Haukeland University Hospital (Tor B Aasen), the Property Management and Occupational Health Service, Bergen University and a multi-disciplinary and -institutional network of experts that has been set up to support the project.

The exposure side covers microbiology by SINTEF, Trondheim (Elisabeth N Haugen), HVAC- and building technology by two main subject students from Bergen High School (HiB) (Aina Eide, Mona Holme Gundersen, supervised by Lector Knut K Helland) and a diploma student from NTNU, Trondheim (Grete Anfinsen, supervised by Prof Sten Olaf Hanssen and Jon Viking Thunes). A network of external supervisors representing different technical and hygienic topics around them, provide competence in building technology and physics, occupational hygiene (Bjørg-Eli Hollund) as well as building art history due to the specific challenges that these old buildings represent in terms of building physics and moisture problems when they are modernised.

The effect part of the study has been carried out in cooperation with Uppsala University (Gunilla Wieslander), and Centre for Occupational and Environmental allergy (SYMA)(Erik Florvaag).

A Nordic network of prominent experts and scientists has been consulted. A multidisciplinary seminar was arranged in Bergen last year covering different topics relevant for the project.

Background
Bergen University have saved much of our architectural heritage and cultural environments by taking over old apartment building and refurbished and modernised them to use them as university buildings. It is however a challenge and many pitfalls on the way to modernise such building to comply with the work requirements of to day and at the same time take care of the peculiar external and internal aesthetics of these environments.

Study population and buildings
"Intervention group": about 100 university employees and main subject students in two more than 100 years old buildings that have been refurbished from apartment house to offices and lecture rooms with installation of balanced ventilation and later been evacuated and partly restored due to moisture problems. The adverse effects among the users re-emerged in both buildings after returning to the buildings from preliminary rather inferior provisional conditions in other buildings during the refurbishing period.

"Control group": about 100 employees and main subject students in two buildings of about same age and basic construction that have been refurbished from apartment house to offices and lecture rooms with installation of balanced ventilation in the same manner as the "intervention" buildings. These buildings have previously not been considered to give environmental adverse effects due to moisture damages.

Effect markers
Questionnaire data collected by extended "Örebro". Tear film break up time (BUT), "psychological BUT", acoustic rhinometry, nasal lavage, blood samples for IgE and Phadiatop. The effect data were collected March 2004 in the field at the work place when the person had been exposed in the work environments for at least one hour.

Exposure markers
The buildings, their history, building physics and HVAC installations have been surveyed. Ventilation, temperature, CO2, and CO have been logged over a four weeks period in the winter-time, February - March 2004, after the influenza season and before the pollen season. Air microbiology has been characterised in all buildings by air sampling from representative rooms, HVAC installations and outdoors near the ventilation inlets. Settled dust has been sampled on ALK filters by vacuum cleaning of high-level surfaces.

Spot test has been performed to verify hypothesis concerning air movements and possible sources of exposure, including air sampling of biological dust, MVOC, air movements and thermal environments.

Intervention
Identified possible sources and causes to adverse indoor climate effects in the buildings will be repaired/improved as far as practically possible in the "intervention-" as well as in the "control" buildings.

Follow-up
All relevant exposure- and effect data will be collected again next year (2005) at the same period of the year.

Schedule
The pre intervention exposure and effect data have now been collected for the winter season 2004. The buildings will be studied more in details during next months concerning building physics, sources and other possible problems to be remedied. Possible probes taken in the intervention buildings will be compared with the conditions in the "control" buildings.

Several possible exposure paths from moisture sources to parts of the buildings have been identified and partly remedied. A meeting between all parties involved on the building/exposure side is scheduled at April 20th to assess status and further pathways in the project. A similar coordination will take place on the effect side of the project.

Acknowledgement
The project has been possible to perform thanks to a grant from UNI Fond in addition to the grant from the Norwegian Research Council. We have also been generously supported by contributions from the participating partners in form of free work hours and reduced fees.

We have received practical support and advise from the following contributors in addition to those mentioned above:

  • Dan Norbäck, Uppsala University,
  • Pegasus Lab, Uppsala,
  • Laboratory for Clinical Chemistry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen,
  • Per Jonas Norhagen, professor Emeritus, Institute of Cutural Studies and Art History.
  • Trond Bøhlerengen, The Norwegian Building Research Institute

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Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, last updated 21.06.04

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