Health and Safety Protocol for the Management of Building Demolition Waste with High Mercury Contamination

Abstract

The LIFE-funded European research project SUBproducts4LIFE seeks to demonstrate the use of industrial subproducts for the large-scale remediation of contaminated soils and industrial building debris connected to Hg mining. The main purpose of the present research was to ensure worker health and safety by creating a protocol for working in a highly mercury-contaminated demolition debris. A methodology consisting of sampling campaigns with a Lumex RA-915 mercury analyser, evaluating the accuracy of an empirical Hg emission model, evaluating each working task, providing recommendations for minimising the workers’ exposure and calculating the maximum work period in each area was proposed. It was also shown to forecast Hg biological markers. As a result, a work protocol was developed with three scenarios which allow planning the work and forecasting the workers’ mercury exposure as a function of the daily temperature, ensuring that the workers’ mercury exposure is below occupational mercury levels. The working protocol allows planning the works safely with minimum exposure to gaseous mercury and working fulfilling standard requirements. Plans for restoration or new use of industrial mercury-contaminated sites have increased in recent years, and the research improves the knowledge of Hg gas distribution and worker Hg exposure.