Dirty workplace may affect your brain function: study

Bosses, take note! A lack of stimulation in the workplace and a dirty working environment can have a long-term cognitive effect on employees, a new study has warned.

"Psychologists say that the brain is a muscle, while industrial hygienists point to chemicals in the work environment that may cause decline," said Joseph Grzywacz from Florida State University in the US.

"There are real things in the workplace that can shape cognitive function: some that you can see or touch and others you cannot. We showed that both matter to cognitive health in adulthood," said Grzywacz.

In the past, researchers had been divided on whether it was working in an unclean workplace—facing exposure to agents such as mold, lead or loud noises - or working in an unstimulating environment that took the biggest toll on brain health as people aged.

This new study is significant because it showed both can play an important role in long-term cognitive well-being, researchers said.

They obtained cognitive function data from working adults participating in the Midlife in the US study. The data included 4,963 adults ages 32 to 84. Forty seven per cent of the sample was male and 53 per cent female.

Their results had two major takeaways: one was that greater



occupational complexity - that is the learning of new skills and taking on new challenges - resulted in stronger cognitive performance particularly for women as they aged, researchers said.

The second result was that men and women who had jobs that exposed them to a dirty working environment saw a cognitive decline, they said. "Both of these issues are important when we think about the long-term health of men and women," said Grzywacz.

Researchers analysed the data to examine individuals' wrkplaces and their ability to maintain and later use information they learned.

They also looked at their executive functioning skills such as their ability to complete tasks, manage time and pay attention. Additionally, the data included responses from participants asking them about any memory issues they were experiencing.

"The practical issue here is cognitive decline associated with ageing and the thought of, 'if you do not use it, you lose it,'" said Grzywacz.

"Designing jobs to ensure that all workers have some decision making ability may protect cognitive function later in life, but it is also about cleaning up the workplace," he said. 

The findings were published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.