Due to decreases in the availability and quality of traditional water resources, harvested rainwater is increasingly used for potable and non-potable purposes. In this study, we examined the effect of conventional roofing materials (i.e., asphalt fiberglass shingle, Galvalume(®) metal, and concrete tile) and alternative roofing materials (i.e., cool and green) on the quality of harvested rainwa...

Today, urban runoff is considered as an important source of environmental pollution. Roofing materials, in particular, the metallic ones, are considered as a major source of urban runoff metal contaminations. In the context of the European Water Directive (2000/60 CE), an accurate evaluation of contaminant flows from roofs is thus required on the city scale, and therefore the development of ass...

Artificial ecotopes of 121 peridomiciliary environments in four rural localities in the state of Ceará, Brazil, were studied and the type of material of the ecotopes was identified as triatomine infestation. Two thousand two hundred and four Triatoma brasiliensis Neiva, 340 Triatoma pseudomaculata Corrêa and Espínola, 121 Rhodnius nasutus Stall, and 5 Panstrongylus lutzi (Neiva and Pinto) were ...

Development in sensitive watersheds continues to pose environmental problems for receiving waters. One contributor to this long-term pollution is building and other construction materials. However, the long-term effect of many building materials on the environment has not been quantified due to limited testing of these materials prior to sales and installation. Laboratory “leach” testing of com...

Selection of optimal roofing materials is very important but it is a complex and onerous task as varieties of materials are available for housing roof construction. In order to select suitable materials, an extensive range of criteria would need to be considered. This paper presents the framework and the development of a knowledge-based decision support system for material selection implemented...

Mammalian cell mutagenesis, transformation and skin tumorigenesis assays show similar results in comparing the potencies of diesel, coke oven, roofing tar and cigarette smoke particulates. These assay results are reasonably consistent with the comparative carcinogenic potencies of coke oven and roofing tar emissions as determined by epidemiological studies. The bacterial mutagenesis assay tends...

Diffuse pollution sources have been recognised by the European Water Framework Directive to significantly contribute to pollution of stormwater receivers. Stormwater runoff is considered to represent diffuse pollution sources. The aim of this study was to clarify the contributions of specific sources in the urban environment to the content of organic and inorganic pollutants in stormwater. This...

Asbestos is characterised by a unique set of physical and chemical properties, which has led to its many applications [28], such as roofing coatings: flat and corrugated sheets, floors, water supply pipes, textiles, rope, cord and yarn, paper, friction and composition materials, household products, plastic fillers, clutches, brake linings, gaskets and pads for automobiles [30]. Asbestos‐cement ...

The installation of roofing materials with increased solar reflectance (i.e., "cool roofs") can mitigate the urban heat island effect and reduce energy use. In addition, meteorological changes, along with the possibility of enhanced UV reflection from these surfaces, can have complex impacts on ozone and PM2.5 concentrations. We aim to evaluate the air-quality impacts of widespread cool-roof in...