Hazardous substances in construction
The Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, defines ‘waste’ as “any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard”.
Moreover, the same directive, defines ‘hazardous waste’ as a “waste which displays one or more of the hazardous properties listed in Annex III”, meaning this, basically that a waste is considered hazardous when due to its characteristics, it poses a serious direct risk to human health or the environment.
On construction and demolition, hazardous waste is an issue that must be dealt with in many construction sites.
Once hazardous materials have been detected, they can change an entire development plan. This will inevitably cost both time and money to the business and will put both workers and third parties present in the area at risk, as well as damage the environment.
In this sense, it is of vital importance to know which are the most common hazardous wastes in construction and, specifically in demolition, to detect them as early as possible, thus minimising their repercussions as much as possible, in terms of economic costs, health and safety, environmental damage and time.
Some of the most common ones are the following ones:
- Asbestos
- Inorganic chemicals
- Silica dust
- PCBs
- Lead
- Hydrocarbons and used oils
- Paints and solvents
- Impregnated rags
- Batteries and batteries
- Primers and sealants
- Radioactive waste
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