General guidance for the buildings and construction sector

Resources in this section provide background information on the issue of chemicals of concern in building materials, to support development of sound chemical management strategies.

Key reports include the Global Chemicals Outlook (II), which outlines the current global situation on chemicals of concern in general, and includes sections on the contribution of the buildings and construction sector to the issue.  The report explores some of the most significant global challenges and chemicals that need to be addressed - such as achieving global progress on phasing out lead in paints, the increasing concern around highly persistent PFAS chemicals, and the barrier to material circularity that can be caused by chemical contamination, a key challenge for the buildings and construction sector.

Another resource of note in this section is the UNEP report Chemicals of Concern in the Building and Construction Sector, which provides detail on common chemical hazards, an outline of existing legislation, and current challenges, gaps and opportunities for thie sector.  This resource is a valuable source of information for development of a chemicals strategy and identifying priority areas of focus.

This section also includes resources looking into certain chemical families found in buildings and construction that are subject to concern, and are found across a number of building material types.  

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