The impacts of the industrial cannabis fiber usage as building material on human helth

Abstract

Cannabis, which originated in Asia, is an ancient plant that migrated to many parts of the world with mankind. In line with the benefits and services offered to humanity throughout the history of civilizations, it has been inherited from generation to generation with the definition of a useful plant. Cannabis Sativa L. species is one of the oldest known fiber plants. While its fibers are used for various products such as thread, rope and fabric, different parts of the plant are also used in medical products. In line with the findings obtained from archaeological excavations, ancient evidences of cannabis plant cultivation and processing in daily life, are also encountered at many sites from Mesopotamian civilizations to Anatolian civilizations. In this context, there is also an industrial hemp and hemp based production memory in Anatolian lands as well as many countries in the world. This industrial plant, which can be grown easily under the climate conditions of Turkey; After the Second World War, its production and related economy were restricted as a result of the international agreements involved. For this reason, the organic and sustainable hemp raw material has been forgotten agriculturally and has lost its share to petroleum-based imported raw materials. The cannabis plant, its potential has been ignored until recently, is now being tried to be brought back to the economy. In this study, the future and potential benefits of the hemp industry is discussed from the perspective of architecture and interior architecture disciplines. The usage of industrial hemp-based products in the construction sector and its sub-sectors as building materials in the context of human health and environmental sensitivity were investigated the while comparisons among hemp based and existing synthetic products and recommendations were made.