In a recent development at the Fifth Tax Bureau sub-bureau office building in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, both formaldehyde and ammonia levels were found to exceed technical requirements. Employees reported the presence of a strong odor within the office premises, with over 30 staff members experiencing adverse health effects, including 10 individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer.
According to a report by Red Star News, starting from 2009, 10 employees were diagnosed with various types of cancer such as thyroid cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer, and bladder cancer. They suspect that the culprit may be the office building’s renovation.
During recollection by an employee named Xiao, in 2007, the Fifth Tax sub-bureau relocated their office. In October of that year, the new office building was renovated, and by November, Xiao and his colleagues had moved into the new office space. From 2008 to 2012, over a span of 4 years, Xiao worked in office room 103 and experienced frequent colds, hair loss, and respiratory discomfort. In February 2014, after a hospital examination, multiple nodules were discovered in his thyroid, leading to a diagnosis of right thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery.
Upon moving into the new office building, Xiao distinctly noticed a strange odor present in the office. He and his colleagues raised concerns about this issue with the authorities but did not receive any feedback or adjustment. Due to work arrangements, Xiao had to switch offices subsequently. Around 2014, employees’ complaints about the smell became more pronounced, and multiple staff members, including Xiao, were diagnosed with tumors.
In 2017, Xiao sued the Xuzhou City Tax Bureau, demanding compensation for nursing care, nutrition expenses, meal subsidies, transportation costs, totaling around 7000 RMB. The Xuzhou Railway Transportation Court ruled in the first instance that the Tax Bureau should bear civil liability for environmental infringement and ordered them to cover the related costs.
The court judgment detailed that in 2014, the Jiangsu Geological and Mineral Design Research Institute conducted tests on several offices in the building, with the report deeming room TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds) levels as within limits. In 2015, the Xuzhou City Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center also conducted air quality tests on multiple rooms in the building, revealing that room 103 had excessive levels of formaldehyde and several rooms had elevated ammonia levels.
As per the court records, by 2018, more than 30 staff members were affected, with 10 individuals being diagnosed with various cancers since 2009. Colleagues working with Xiao in room 103 were found to have thyroid nodules in 2014, while those on the first floor were diagnosed with thyroid cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, among others, and employees on the third floor were all diagnosed with kidney cancer or kidney tumors.
The Xuzhou Railway Transportation Court determined that the Fifth Tax sub-bureau, under the Xuzhou City Tax Bureau, failed to properly ventilate the newly renovated office space before occupancy, did not conduct quality checks on interior decorations, neglected to test for indoor pollutants exceeding standards, and did not take necessary measures for indoor environmental management despite clear indoor air quality issues causing discomfort among employees, leading to prolonged exposure and harm to Xiao’s health. The Tax Bureau, as the provider of the office environment and controller of pollutants, was found at fault.
In 2019, the Xuzhou City Tax Bureau appealed the ruling, and the case proceeded to a second-instance trial that same year.
In December 2024, the Xuzhou Intermediate Court issued a second-instance judgment overturning the initial decision.
Following the second-instance ruling, Xiao expressed intentions to pursue further legal action based on violations of his personal rights, although he acknowledged the difficulty in establishing a direct causal link between the renovation work and the cancer cases. He noted that since 2018, the office location was no longer occupied by the Fifth Tax sub-bureau, and the furniture had been handled.
Reports indicate that the Fifth Tax sub-bureau under the Xuzhou City Tax Bureau no longer exists, and specific responses regarding the link between the post-renovation cancer cases and the office decor remain unanswered.
Legal experts, including Xu Mengni, a lawyer from Shanghai Shenhu Law Firm, suggest that Xiao can sue the renovation company in terms of personal rights, health rights, and bodily rights.
Furthermore, Lu Mengjia, a partner at Beijing Jing Shi (Hangzhou) Law Firm, recommended that Xiao consider holding the renovation company, as well as the providers of the renovation materials and furniture, accountable. Through professional testing institutions to evaluate the office environment, verifying environmental protection certificates, reviewing product standards, identifying defective products, and subsequently pursuing accountability from the relevant manufacturers or sellers.
The news of this incident became a hot topic on January 23, sparking public attention and discussions. Some netizens speculated that besides formaldehyde, there might be other harmful substances like toluene, TVOC, etc., that pose more severe health risks.
There were also suspicions raised by some netizens that the high cancer incidence among the employees may be linked to the presence of radioactive materials in certain renovation materials.