VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Roadside Supply Ltd.
SPECIALIZING IN HIGH TENSION CABLE
& GUARDRAIL SAFETY BARRIERS
Roadside Supply Ltd. is one of the largest distributors
of Highway Safety Barriers in Western Canada. We
focus on excellent customer service, technical support,
onsite training and flexible delivery options.
Phone: (780) 464-0409 Email: info@roadsidesupply.com
www.roadsidesupply.com
Back to basics: What are
VOCs and the code of
practice?
VOCs are organic compounds that contain
one or more carbon atoms with high vapour
pressures, which evaporate easily into the at-mosphere.
According to Environment and
Climate Change Canada, products that pro-duce
VOC emissions are typically solvent-based
and are on the list of toxic substances
in the Canadian Environmental Protection
Act.
“VOCs are a precursor to the formation
of ground-level ozone as well as particulate
matter – the main ingredients of smog,” said
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s
VOC Controls unit head, Denis Pineault. “To
reduce the smog level and improve air quali-ty,
it’s necessary to control and reduce VOCs.”
VOCs are particularly present in the ap-plication
of cutback asphalt and emulsified
asphalt during road construction. To pre-pare
these products, asphalt cement is often
mixed with a petroleum diluent to produce
cutback asphalt or with emulsifiers, water
and sometimes petroleum diluent to pro-duce
emulsified asphalt.
“Once the liquefied asphalt cement is ap-plied
during road construction, the diluent
petroleum solvent (in the case of asphalt cut-backs)
and water (in the case of asphalt emul-sions)
evaporates, leaving the cured residual
asphalt cement,” reads the Environment and
Climate Change Canada’s website.
When asphalt is applied, VOCs are emit-ted
through the evaporation process, which
create ground-level ozone and particulate
matter.
Environment and Climate Change Canada
maintains that the majority of asphalt used
in Canada today is emulsified asphalt.
Pineault cites a study conducted for the de-partment
in 2010 which found that of the 301
kilotonnes (kt) of liquefied asphalt used in
Canada in 2009, 85 per cent was emulsified
asphalt.
“While cutback asphalt represented only
15 per cent of asphalt use in Canada in 2009,
it was responsible for 59 per cent of the VOC
emissions associated with the use of asphalt,”
said Pineault.
The study estimated that, without an en-vironmental
framework to guide the use of
asphalt in Canada, VOC emissions from as-phalt
could reach 10.8 kt by 2020.
As a result, in 2012, Environment and
Climate Change Canada held a public
“The code is proposing best
practices to encourage the use of
lower VOC emitting asphalt during
ozone season. For the majority
of SHCA members, day-to-day
activities should not change.”
– Denis Pineault, Head, VOC Controls Unit,
Environment and Climate Change Canada
50 Think BIG | Quarter 4 2016 | saskheavy.ca
/www.roadsidesupply.com
/saskheavy.ca
link