Environment and health

Migration

A study by the FABES laboratories in Germany has compared Road+ asphalt with conventional rubber asphalt and non-modified asphalt. Results show that the Road+ modified asphalt washes out the least organic material both in a cold-water as well as a hot-water environment. The complete study can be downloaded from the download centre to the right.

Emission

FABES has also done an emission study for critical compounds during production in the hot mix plant as well as paving in the field. No emission of N-nitrosamines was detected and the emission of volatile and semi-volatile compounds was lower for Road+ modified asphalt compared to conventional polymer modified asphalt (PMB). A summary of the study can be downloaded from the download centre to the right.

Recyclability

An important property for the asphalt is that it must be recyclable without producing emissions during the process. A study by Heiden Labor in Germany has proved good performance in this area. The study can be downloaded from the download centre to the right.

Greenhouse gas savings

The use of Road+ gives considerable savings in greenhouse gas emissions, acidification and cumulative energy demand, read more about it in Genan's Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study.

Noise reduction

A recent study by World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional office for Europe, quantifies the health risk involved in exposure to noise and establishes that the equivalent of one million healthy life years are lost every year due to traffic-related noise in the western part of Europe, establishing noise pollution as an environmental factor in the magnitude or air pollution in Europe. Exposure to noise can not only cause or contribute to discomfort, stress and sleep disturbance, but also high blood pressure, heart attack as well as learning disabilities and tinnitus.

Road+-modified asphalt has proven to lead up to 5-6dBs noise reduction compared to conventional asphalt. As a reduction of just 3 dB (A) is perceived by the human ear as comparable to half of the original traffic load, this represents a considerable reduction.

Read more about the noise reduction results of Road+ here