Building Contaminants & Materials

The impact of building materials and indoor air quality on human health has been underestimated for quite a long time. We provide clarity regarding the long-term safety of construction projects and the protection against negative health risks in residential and commercial areas by way of our material and contaminant testing services for the infrastructure and building sector. In this way, we help increase the quality of life of all of us.

We possess our own SEM laboratories (scanning electron microscope) in Mönchengladbach and Berlin for asbestos analysis, as well as modern GC-MS/LC-MS devices at multiple sites, and even a microbiological laboratory specializing in mold analysis. With this wide range of state-of-the-art analytical technology, the GBA Group is able to analyze all of the compounds and matrices that are found in buildings.

The GBA Group supports you by sharing our expertise and utilizing modern analytical methods. Whether you are an engineer, appraiser, responsible for facility management, or just a private individual, we will gladly help you test the materials in your building.

Furthermore, we will also gladly handle the sampling for you, or provide suitable pumps for taking air samples (asbestos, airborne germs, air contaminants) and containers for safely transporting your sample to our laboratory. We will also inform you about the amount of sample material required for the analyses.

Building contaminants include all chemical compounds or organisms inside buildings that pose a threat to human health or the environment. In addition to mold and conspicuous odors, an array of chemical compounds can be hidden away inside the building materials. These include contaminants that were built into the structure due to their “positive” qualities, (e.g. plasticizer, resistance, flexibility), then in retrospect are exposed to be severely detrimental to human health or the environment.

Building contaminants range from plasticizers in floors to asbestos in tile adhesives and fiber cement, and even toxic wood preservation agents such as PCP and lindane. If a building is demolished, a registry of contaminants has to be produced in advance. This ensures that the contaminants can be disposed of appropriately and workplace safety is maintained.