Dirty workplace affects the brain

Do you have a dirty and demotivating workplace? It could be the reason you are underperforming, a scientist at a Florida State University said last week.

According to lead researcher Joseph Grzywacz, the Norejane Hendrickson Professor of Family and Child Sciences, employees and especially women who learned new skills and undertook various challenges had better cognitive development as they got older.

The study interviewed 4,963 adults aged between 32 and 84 years. The results showed that men and women with jobs that exposed them to an unclean environment experienced greater cognitive decline, blaming it on chemicals, mould and too much noise. Other hazardous conditions that the researcher also tested included exposure to radiation, disease and infections; minor cuts, burns, bites and stings.

The second set of items assessed exposure to environmental conditions like noise and lighting. In the past there has been controversy on whether it was working in an unclean workplace — facing exposure to agents such as mould, lead or loud noises — or working in an unstimulating environment that took the biggest toll on the brain's health as people aged.