Recent trends of the emission characteristics from the road construction industry

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2010 Nov;17(9):1493-501. doi: 10.1007/s11356-010-0327-x. Epub 2010 May 19.

Abstract

Bitumen is a black, thermoplastic, hydrocarbon material derived from the processing of crude oil. At ambient temperature, bitumen is solid and does not present any health/environmental risks. This is one of the main reasons that bitumen is widely used for road construction all over the world. But during manufacturing/modification according to its application, storage, transportation, and use of bitumen is heated giving off various hydrocarbons emissions. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in investigating the potential of bitumen emissions to cause health effects. This is mainly because of the reason that bitumen has small amount of poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, along with some other volatiles like benzene, toluene, etc., which are known to be carcinogenic in nature. Thus, assessment of the emission characteristics and health hazards of bitumen fumes may have far reaching industrial economic and public health implications. In this review, we will discuss about the emission characteristics from bitumen, asphalts, or road construction, which is mainly contributed by bitumen fumes. Sampling strategies and analytical methods employed are also described briefly.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants / analysis*
  • Air Pollutants / chemistry
  • Air Pollutants, Occupational / analysis
  • Benzene / analysis
  • Construction Materials
  • Environmental Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
  • Hydrocarbons / analysis*
  • Hydrocarbons / chemistry
  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / analysis
  • Industrial Waste / analysis*
  • Inhalation Exposure / analysis
  • Inhalation Exposure / statistics & numerical data
  • Toluene / analysis
  • Transportation
  • Volatile Organic Compounds / analysis

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Air Pollutants, Occupational
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic
  • Industrial Waste
  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Toluene
  • asphalt
  • Benzene