Life cycle analyses limitations

In the past decades, polymer materials have been continuously replacing more traditional materials such as paper, metal, glass, stone, wood, natural fibres and natural rubber in the fields of clothing industry, E E components, automotive materials, aeronautics, leisure, food packaging, sports goods, etc. Without the existence of suitable polymer materials progress in many of these areas would have been limited. Polymer materials are appreciated for their chemical, physical and economical qualities including low production cost, safety aspects and low environmental impact (cf. life-cycle analysis). 

While the potential benefits of biobased products are certainly real, so are their limitations and possible problems. One way of achieving the benefits of biomass processing to biobased products is to do careful, system-level studies of specific products in order to anticipate and resolve potential problems before large industries are launched and the damage is done. Life cycle analysis is suited to such system studies. For example, there is an obvious potential for biomass production for biobased products to conflict with food production. Careful studies are required to anticipate and resolve such conflicts before they occur. 

It is in the development and support of formulated products that Raman spectroscopy probably has most to offer the life cycle of a pharmaceutically active molecule. Due to there being few limitations to sample presentation prior to analysis, Raman spectroscopy is particularly versatile and can be applied to both macro- and microsamples. 

G. Finnveden, On the Limitations of Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Systems Analysis Tools in General, International Journal of LCA, 2000, 5, 229. 

A remarkable genetic study of the function of all of the members of the Plasmodium kinome has recently been completed by Tewari, Billker and coworkers.15 Whilst such a study, if carried out in a human Plasmodium species (e.g. P. falciparum or P. vivax) would be limited by being applicable to the erythrocytic phase of the life cycle, Tewari and co-workers used the rodent species, P. berghei, which permitted an analysis of the effects of each kinase knock-out in both asexual and sexual stages of the life cycle. As noted... 

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