Construction dust not detrimental to health

Once considered a health hazard, the multiple construction sites in Bloomington have been deemed safe by new guidelines and safety laws regarding materials for
construction sites.

Roads such as the S.R.  45/46 Bypass and Fee Lane have housed construction sites during the summer and will continue through the 2013-14 school year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, pollutants can be transmitted through construction from dust and materials used in the building.

Dr. Marin Garcia of IU Health Bloomington Hospital said exposure to asbestos was common between the 1930s and 1980s, although the EPA banned it in 2000.

Because asbestos was linked to lung cancer, Garcia said federal regulations evolved to limit and teach the public about how to use such materials.

“The Indiana Department of Environmental Management Office of Air Quality and the EPA has guidelines to modify and focus on pollutants from construction,” Garcia said. “The state has these regulations for the safety of the town.”

When the EPA banned asbestos, it also established regulations to check materials in school buildings prepared for construction and buildings already built.

William Brown, director of sustainability at IU, said all new buildings must meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building standards. The new criteria enforces any new construction sites on campus or around Bloomington to use less energy per square foot.

“Major renovations are also required to meet green building standards and new energy codes,” Brown said. “Overall, our energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are decreasing, in part because of more energy efficient construction and renovation.”

Leaders of various building companies comprise the U.S Green Building Council, a non-profit organization promoting environmentally responsible, healthy and profitable buildings to work and live, according to the City of Bloomington website.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design was formed in 1999 and has become the main standard for building, specifically focusing on the design, construction and operation principles.

LEED also regulates water efficiency, according to the Bloomington website. LEED motivates companies to use less water and use newer wastewater technology.

Michael Litwin, supervisor of Bloomington Ecological Services, said construction sites can be damaging to waterways, but because of the drought this summer, contaminants are not that high.

“Construction causes runoff of soil and erosion from heavy machinery,” Litwin said. “But with the criteria set by the LEED Green Building standards, contaminants from sites and air pollution are not as high as they used to be.”