Consequences of stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change on the use of materials

Abstract

Materials used in the exterior of buildings and in construction are routinely exposed to solar UV radiation. Especially in the case of wood and plastic building materials, the service life is determined by their weather-induced deterioration. Any further increase in ground-level solar UV radiation, UV-B radiation in particular, will therefore reduce the outdoor service life of these products. Any increase in ambient temperature due to climate change will also have the same effect. However, the existing light-stabilizer technologies are likely to be able to mitigate the additional damaging effects due to increased solar UV radiation and maintain the outdoor lifetimes of these materials at the present levels. These mitigation choices invariably increase the lifetime cost of these products. A reliable estimate of what this additional cost might be for different products is not available at the present time. Personal exposure to UV radiation is reduced both by clothing fabrics and glass windows used in buildings and automobiles. This assessment describes how the recent technical advances in degradation and stabilization techniques impact the lifetimes of plastics and wood products routinely exposed to solar UV radiation and the protection to humans offered by materials against solar UV radiation.

A new approach for the modelling of chestnut wood photo-degradation monitored by different spectroscopic techniques

“…Specifically, light degrades the wood surfaces both in outdoor and indoor conditions and causes visible colour changes (Andrady et al 2015;Tolvaj et al 2014a, b;Tolvaj and Faix 1995;Pandey 2005;Genco et al 2011;Lo Monaco et al 2011;Lo Monaco et al 2015;Pelosi et al 2013;Hon and Shiraishi 2001). The colour changes are the visible expression of the chemical degradation of the wood components (Teacă et al 2013;Bonifazi et al 2015).…”

Spectroscopic and photochemical stability of polystyrene films in the presence of metal complexes

“…The degradation of polystyrene led to decreases in viscosity, since the degraded polystyrene has lower molecular weight than the non-degraded polymer that underwent chain scis-sion [43]. The number of average chain scission events (S) [44] was calculated using Equation (9), where,M V,O andM V,t are viscosity-average molecular weight at the beginning of the experiment (o) and at irradiation time (t), respectively.…”

“…Ultraviolet (UV) radiation (280-400 nm) is less harmful to organic materials than visible (400-760 nm) and infrared (760-2500 nm) radiation [7]. A large demand for PS has been observed in various areas (e.g., building construction, laboratory ware, electronics, signal lamps and packaging) due to its desirable properties (e.g., clear and hard polymer) and low price [8,9]. PS is classified into isotactic, atactic and syndiotactic polystyrene, based on its structure [10][11][12].…”

The consequences for human health of stratospheric ozone depletion in association with other environmental factors

“…395 Topical corticosteroids are unstable under UV-B irradiation, possibly causing skin damage as well as loss of therapeutic effect. 396 Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly incorporated into sporting equipment, sunscreens, clothing and cosmetics (see also Andrady et al 352 ). Concerns have been raised about possible health risks of NPs.…”