Ecological toxicity through the life cycle of building materials

Introduction. At the present stage it is becoming important to take into account the category of environmental toxicity (ecotoxicity) in the life cycle assessment of building materials in accordance with the methodology of international standards ISO 14000 series. Among the methods of ecotoxicity assessment, two groups can be distinguished. The first includes tests using living organisms (freshwater unicellular algae, crustaceans Daphnia magna Straus, fish embryos and luminous bacteria), standardized at the international level. Moreover, there are specifics of their application for different materials: for slab and film materials - dynamic leaching test, and for granular materials - percolation. It is important not only to study ecotoxicity for water, but also for soil. The level of microbial biomass activity and phytotoxicity of soils become important soil parameters in this respect. The second group of methods includes ecotoxicity calculations in the Comparative Toxic Unit, CTUe. Studies were carried out for building materials from different groups by the type of basic raw materials, which gave results related to the correlation of data on water and soil. The adequacy of the tests and calculations was confirmed by comparison with the studies of foreign specialists already available for a number of materials. From the obtained data it is possible to draw conclusions about the application of ecotoxicity testing methods as additional methods in the assessment of construction materials, since only in the case of biological indication it is possible to proceed to the establishment of specific toxins by chemical-analytical methods. Proposals are also made to improve the regulatory legal framework in the field of ecotoxicity determination in the life cycle assessment of construction materials.The subject of the study is ecological toxicity indicators of building materials of different nomenclature and methods of their determination. Several methods of ecotoxicity testing as well as calculation of the indicator within the framework of life cycle assessment of building materials are considered. The study of ecotoxicity category indicators will improve the quality of life cycle assessment of building materials.Materials and methods. Comparison of methods for determining ecological toxicity, both in terms of testing on living organisms (both domestic and international standards), as well as in terms of calculations of toxicity indicators for humans and ecotoxicity was carried out. A research scheme was developed in which ecotoxicity becomes a key indicator for further studies of the characteristics of natural-technogenic systems.Results. A study was carried out in which ecotoxicity was determined for the same materials by tests in the aquatic environment as well as soil samples from sites associated with the life cycle of the materials. In addition, the calculated ecotoxicity values were analyzed and compared with studies by others. The adequacy of the results obtained was confirmed.Conclusions. Advantages and disadvantages of different methods of ecotoxicity determination are analyzed, assumptions are made about possible correlation of the results with the data obtained in studies of natural-technogenic systems. Proposals for improvement of the regulatory framework in the field of ecotoxicity determination and directions for further research are made.

ecological toxicity, building materials, life cycle assessment