Effects of atmospheric contaminants on natural building stone

Abstract

The natural stone, known as a long-life esthetical building material, has been used in many architectural works from past to the present. It is one of the major elements of universal cultural heritage; however, architectural works constructed with natural building stone are under threat of atmospheric pollution in cities. The objective of this study was to investigate the adverse effects of major atmospheric contaminants containing sulphur (S), nitrogen (N), carbon (C) and chlorine (Cl) on natural building stone.