THE EFFECTS OF THE AIR POLLUTANTS ON CARBONATED BUILDING STONE

Abstract

The pollutant emissions that are thrown into the atmosphere as a result of the fossile fuel usage for either energy production, cause deterioration of the building stones in addition other environmental problems. Especially, SO2 and NOx have negative effects on the historical buildings in all over the world which are made of carbonate stones. These effects can be observed as the deterioration of the carbonate building stones by with the change of their chemical structures. This study presents the result of surveys which analyse the deterioration mechanism of CaCO3 major-constituent building stones by air pollutants. The buildings in urban areas are destroyed by air pollutants and meteorological conditions depending on their material characteristics. The main sign of the mentioned destroy is the gypsum formation that can go from the surface of the stone to inner parts. In the following pores of the stones cyclic crystallizations and melting, micro cracks and a loss of material are formed. These deterioration effects become more serious with the increasing pollution levels