Many governments are recognising the need for brown field development, a brownfield site is defined as “previously developed land” that has the potential for being redeveloped. It is often (but not always) land that has been used for industrial and commercial purposes and is now derelict and often contaminated.

It should also be noted that brownfield sites are considered great for redevelopment of not only housing and commercial buildings, but also as open spaces for recreation, conservation, woodland and other community areas.
– Earth Environmental

The development potential of brownfield sites is huge, and there are some important considerations to take into account. Previously developed brownfield sites typically require preparatory regenerative work before any new development goes ahead, it also depends on whether there is contamination present, which is an area where Photoionisation detection is important.

Detecting VOCs In The Construction Industry

With PID technology we are able to protect employees such as banksman or ground works engineers who can be first contact with the high PPM levels of these carcinogens once disturbed in excavator applications.

The PID sensors will detect a wide range of gases that are harmful to health and indicate to working employees any high concentrations as well as calculating TWA and STEL limits through working shifts for known compounds.

This can be a great way of first detection to alert others on site of high contaminated samples to allow further lab-based technologies to identify hidden risks and ensure the protection and control is put into place for those in and around the contaminated areas. The state of New York has taken this one step further with Community Air Monitoring Programs (CAMP) ensuring best practice to protect not just on-site employees, but also the neighbour who will eventually benefit from the new regeneration.

For more information on the ION Science instrument range, please contact us on:

info@ionscience.com or telephone: +44 (0) 1763 208 503.