- Title
- Composite building materials and construction and demolition waste (C&DW): ecotoxicological perspectives
- Creator
- Molla, Adane Sewhunegn; Sher, Willy; Tang, Waiching; Bahar, Md Mezbaul; Bekele, Dawit Nega
- Relation
- Sustainability and Toxicity of Building Materials Manufacture, Use and Disposal Stages p. 601-625
- Relation
- Woodhead Publishing Series in Civil and Structural Engineering
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-98336-5.00027-3
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- The impacts of composite building materials and construction and demolition waste (C&DW) on the natural environment have been immense and challenging to predict with conventional measures. Ecotoxicological bioassays are suitable techniques to study the cumulative and/or synergistic impacts of environmental contaminants that cannot be detected by traditional methods. A review of experiments on different composite materials used in building construction has shown typical ecotoxic impacts on different animals and plants. The lifecycle of buildings was studied including the extraction of raw materials and manufacturing processes, specific components of building materials and additive chemicals, which portrayed potential toxicity to the environment. Composite concrete materials, wood treatment chemicals, adhesives, resins and polychlorinated composites are notable examples with known ecotoxic effects. However, studies attempting to ascertain the impacts of mixed materials such as unsorted fractions of C&DWs have been very rare and superficial. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the ecotoxicological effects of C&DW residual fines from material recovery facilities using two terrestrial plant species (Sinapis alba and Triticum aestivum) and the earthworm, Eisenia fetida. The findings showed that a C&DW fines mix of 25% and more demonstrated statistically significant ecotoxic impacts on both plants and earthworms (P<.05). Shoot height and weight for both plants decreased with increasing proportions of C&DW contents higher than 25%, and the reduction became significant with gypsum amendments. The earthworm growth and reproduction test demonstrated similar trends to the plant test. The study concluded that a proportion of C&DW disposed of or otherwise reused in proportion beyond 10% is ecotoxic to the environment. Based on these findings, it is recommended that C&DW should not be regarded as inert and as such be treated with concern. Further studies need to be conducted to determine environmentally safe usage and disposal schemes.
- Subject
- chemical compound; construction; demolition waste; ecotoxicity; environmental impact; environmental monitoring; SDG 12; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1504263
- Identifier
- uon:55486
- Identifier
- ISBN:97803239835630323983561
- Language
- eng
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