DURHAM, N.H. (AP) – Poor air quality could make people more tired and sluggish at work, according to preliminary results from a University of New Hampshire study.

Economists at the Whittemore School of Business have been surveying 500 workers once a week all summer about their health, how their workday has gone, how much time they’ve spent outside and what kinds of physical activities they’ve performed that day.

The surveys will be analyzed along with hospital records for emergency room visits to see if there’s a correlation between bad air days and a higher number of patients with respiratory problems.

Final results aren’t expected until November, but preliminary research shows a link between poor air quality and declining worker productivity, said professor Ross Gittell.

“These are very initial and preliminary findings that are out, but they give very powerful indications for indoor workers,” he said.

Participating businesses include Exeter Hospital, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Portsmouth Regional Hospital, the University of New Hampshire and several Cisco Systems sites. Choosing to focus on indoor workers was a practical consideration – the surveys are being conducted on the Internet, so researchers wanted workers who had access to computers.

“They were all indoor workers, which was what was so surprising because it was just their normal outdoor activity that affected their production at work,” Gittell said.

Although the early results show a correlation between workers who felt sluggish and unhealthy air quality, they do not take into account factors like age and health or how much time workers spent outside. The final report will include that type of analysis.

Most of New Hampshire’s poor air days fall in the summer, when the combination of high ozone levels, heat and humidity make breathing harder.

Addressing the issues raised by the study would require a bit of creativity. Gittell said companies could allow people to work from home on bad air days, encourage employees to car pool or stagger their arrival times so not everyone arrives at once. Working out at a gym instead of going for a run also would help, he said.

“If we could reduce a 10 percent drop in productivity to 5 percent by shifting to work at home there would be an economic benefit,” he said.

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Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com

AP-ES-08-29-04 1048EDT