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The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has issued a report, the Chemicals of Concern in the Building and Construction Sector[1], to promote the avoidance of the selected chemicals that have been proven to be health risks in the building and construction sector.
The building and construction sector is one of the largest end markets for chemicals and the sector’s product range reflects the full diversity of outputs from the chemical industry, ranging from commodity chemicals such as plastic resins (e.g. PVC, PE, PP) to specialty chemicals, such as paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, advanced polymers and additives.
Compared to other consumer products, such as textiles, electronics, or toys, building products are used solely in the context of the built environment and, therefore, directly linked to the life cycle of buildings. A building’s life cycle can last from several decades to centuries, creating a lag between the design and manufacturing stages of a building product and its end-of-life stages. During this lag time, chemicals of concern may pose a considerable risk of environmental pollution and human health impacts if not managed soundly.
The report defines three categories of hazardous chemicals based on what could be done to reduce their risk to human health and ecosystems, which is aligned with the content of the most recent UNEP report, Towards a Pollution-Free Planet[2], as shown in the following table.
Categories | Objective/Focus of Action |
Category 1: Pollutants for which international action already has been agreed on (mainly through multilateral environmental agreements)
| Need to scale up implementation action (through e.g. identification of alternatives, financing, strengthening institutional and technical capacity, compliance assistance teams, industry support)
|
Category 2: Pollutants for which evidence exists to advance risk reduction action
| • Enforce emission and release standards if in place, establish standards if none exist. • Apply best available techniques and best environmental practices • Identify and promulgation of further appropriate risk reduction measures at the national and possibly international level including full implementation of the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)119 • Improve resource efficiency and sustainability in production methods to increase recycling and reuse of material where feasible and in accordance with international, regional and national requirements (catalysts, solvents etc.)
|
Category 3: Pollutants for which scientific evidence concerning risk to human health and the environment is emerging
| • Need to scale up research and knowledge-sharing to better understand nature and magnitude of risks in particular in developing countries • Apply precautionary principle
|
The substances and substance groups to be avoided in the future are listed in categories 1 and 2:
Category 1 | Category 2 |
amphibole asbestos hexabromobiphenyl (HBB) hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) mercury compounds ozone-depleting substances pentachlorophenol and related compounds perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and related substances perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and related substances polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN) short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) tributyltin compounds | acrylamide arsenic compounds cadmium and its compounds chromium (VI) compounds chrysotile asbestos dechlorane plus diisocyanates lead and its compounds certain nonylphenol and octylphenol ethoxylates certain organotin compounds perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds certain phenolic benzotriazoles certain ortho-phthalates certain solvents and volatile organic compounds certain tar compounds tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP)
|
To promote chemical safety, increase resource efficiency and reduce the health and environmental impacts of the building and construction sector, complementary approaches could be considered by different stakeholders, including:
increasing information transparency on chemicals;
ensuring information flow along the entire life cycle of building products;
for existing buildings, minimizing impacts of legacy chemicals while developing new recycling technologies; and
implementing targeted regulatory actions.
The present research has identified almost 30 chemicals of concern. The number could be higher with emerging evidence suggests that more chemicals are of potential concern in building and construction sector. Therefore, continued research and collaborative actions will be needed.
