In Sweden today, 600,000 people are living with, or have had, cancer. Estimates from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare show that at least one in three people in Sweden will receive a cancer diagnosis at some point during their lifetime. In recent years, the construction and real estate industry has become more aware of the issue and their own role, primarily due to the presence of dangerous chemicals in building materials.
According to the new report from Byggvarubedömningen, the increasing awareness has had a significant impact. Through our data on users' construction projects, we have seen a reduction of these hazardous substances by half since 2017 when the measurements began.
-Through our report, we have seen a positive trend where the use of hormone-disrupting and cancer-causing substances in building materials has decreased over the past decade. There is a greater awareness of dangerous chemicals in building materials and a desire to replace them with safer alternatives. It is a gratifying result that shows both that the industry takes the issue seriously, and that we as an organization are doing important work and have a crucial role in continuing the reduction of toxic substances in Swedish construction projects," says Hannes Morger, CEO Byggvarubedömningen.
The report is based on over 8000 Logbooks, where the largest players in Sweden's construction and real estate industry have registered what they have built between 2017-2022. The list of substances considered hormone-disrupting has expanded since 2017, which could have led to increased use. However, the result was the opposite as Byggvarubedömningen could see that the use of products that had received the Avoid classification due to being hormone-disrupting or cancer-causing had decreased by 51% during the period 2017-2022. For a product to receive the Avoid classification for hormone-disrupting and cancer-causing substances, it must contain 0.1% or more of a classified substance.
As part of the development of the report, a survey was also conducted among the 76 member organizations about the biggest challenges when it comes to building without toxins. It was highlighted that the greatest challenges in making sustainable material choices are the difficulty of involving other actors and the costliness.
