Leaching of construction products during their use stage: proposal for a reliable life cycle inventory of the released substances in water and soil

Author(s): M. Lupsea, N. Schiopu and L. Tiruta-Barna
Paper category: symposium
Book title: International Symposium on Life Cycle Assessment and Construction – Civil engineering and buildings
Editor(s): A. Ventura and C. de la Roche
Print ISBN: 978-2-35158-127-8
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-128-5
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Pages: 37 - 45
Total Pages: 9
Language: English

Abstract: Any construction product and material undergoing contact with water during its life cycle can release chemical compounds potentially hazardous for the human health and environment. The environmental behaviour of construction products and buildings in real exposure conditions is still a research subject, methodologies and tools are currently under development in the EU. At the moment, emissions from construction products during their use stage are misevaluated, the impact being either underestimated, or overestimated. The present paper proposes a methodology for a sound consideration of the emissions from construction products by leaching during their use stage. The proposed solution for the evaluation of local impacts in the LCA framework is to assess the emissions towards the identified target compartments (LCI), i.e. soil and water, and to use the common LCIA methods to estimate the associated impacts. The evaluation of the pollutant release is based on the experimental and modelling methodology developed in the field of material leaching, i.e. by studying and modelling the solubilisation and transport of target substances. This option is in line with both the LCA methodology (e.g. the work of CEN/TC 350) and the work in leaching field (e.g. CEN/TC 351), has a general applicability and could feed general databases (e.g. Ecoinvent). A case example of a cement based product is given to illustrate our proposal.

Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), water and soil pollution, service life, leaching, Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA)

Online publication: 2012
Publication Type: full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00