Environmental Pollution Construction Sites
Construction sites are found both within urban and rural areas, often in the close proximity of homes. Due to their proximity to homes and the materials used, construction sites may generate home pollution. This involves air, water, soil, and/or noise pollution. Additionally, construction work may reveal existing subsurface pollution. In such situation, construction work is stopped and costly remediation is needed. Thus, construction work may generate construction pollution problems affecting both home owners and construction site owners. Moreover, construction workers (especially in the past) may be exposed to pollution. These aspects will be discussed in more details below, along with tips and measures to prevent and face pollution, as well as to recover the costs.
If you live in a home close to a construction site (i.e., within 1 block or less) you may face the following type of pollution: * Air Pollution– the air you breathe may be polluted due to the construction work. Apart from the noise, poor air quality is the most immediate pollution effect you may experience from a construction site. This means that airborne contaminants including contaminated particulate matter and volatile compounds are spreading around (mostly carried by wind) in the surrounding neighborhood (the main wind direction will influence the area most affected by air pollution around a construction site). Contaminants spreading around in air can travel large distances in a short time. The main construction contaminants that spread around by wind include: PM10 (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 microns generating polluted dust), PAHs bound to particulate matter, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), asbestos, gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon