IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION ON CALCARENITE STONE

Landscape change is driven by weathering, or the in-situ breakdown of material and its removal through erosion. Weathering affects the degradation and deterioration of stone that is originally part of the landscape and covered with soil and sediments. Weathering causes changes in historical buildings and other structures, such as soiling and decay through color change and various associated features of decay (e.g., crusts, blisters, pitting). The main components of the weathering process are mechanical or physical, chemical, and biological. Damage caused to materials exposed in the atmosphere constitutes one of the most important direct effects of acidifying air pollutants. Systematic field and laboratory investigations performed in the recent decade in many countries have contributed to a considerable increase in the knowledge on the mechanisms of the effects of pollutants, on the quantification of damage and on the assessment of the cost of damage. Beside the very important role of SO2 for several materials also studies of the direct or synergistic effect of NOx and O3 have contributed to the understanding of the complex pollution effects [1,23]. Also the effect of microclimate on corrosion of building materials in different positions on buildings and locations within an urban area, has been subject to systematic studies [4]. This paper examines a case study regarding a building placed between an archaeological site of Lavello, a little town located in the Basilicata Region(southern Italy), a cultivated fields and the industrial area surrounding this town where, in the course of time, anthropogenic activity has caused significant damage. We investigated the presence of xenobiotic substances (caused by agricultural activity) and pollution (SO2, CO, NO2, Ozone, heavy metals) caused by industrial activity on the surface of building. All parameters were correlated studying the influence and synergistic effects with climatic parameters and prevailing winds