Life cycle assessment parameters

There is an urgent need to evaluate the applied analytical methods, with respect not only to the reagent, instrumental costs, and analytical parameters, but also to their negative influences on the environment. A good tool for such evaluation is life cycle assessment (LCA). 

The pulp and paper industry is another industry where life-cycle assessment methodology has been applied. One example is a paper by Lopes et al.,130 who compared the two major fuels used in the pulp and paper industry fuel oil and natural gas. The environmental categories were the same categories listed by Allen and Shonnard.53 The use of methane in place of fuel oil decreases all of the environmental parameters except photochemical ozone formation, which does not vary between fuel options. 

To gain a comprehensive view of the true environmental impacts of products and processes requires life cycle assessment (LCA) studies to be performed. Parameters that are measured as part of a LCA include total cradle mass (amount of materials taken from the earth), energy requirements, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), photochemical ozone creation (POCP), eutrophication, acidification, and total organic carbon (TOC). ° Full LCA is extremely time-consuming and life cycle inventory (LCI) data is often difficult to acquire, in particular for bioprocesses in terms of substrates and enzymes. ... 

For accurate life-cycle assessment, it is essential that the individual machine s parameters be used. Even among machines of exactly the same type and model, stress levels may be considerably different in actual operation. 

Type III—voluntary programs that provide quantified environmental data of a product relative to parameters set by a qualified third party based on a life-cycle assessment that has been verified by that or another qualified third party... 

Measurement of some of these parameters identifies the risk of a particular type of corrosion, for example pH measurements assess the risk of acid attack and redox potential measurements is used to assess the suitability of the soil for microbiological corrosion, a low redox potential indicates that the soil is anaerobic and favourable for the life cycle of anaerobic bacteria such as to sulphate-reducing bacteria. Other measurements are more general, resistivity measurements being the most widely quoted. However, as yet no single parameter has been identified which can confidently be expected to assess the corrosion risk of a given soil. It is therefore common practice to measure several parameters and make an assessment from the results. 

Section 1 includes an introduction and a statement as to the aim of the recommended animal studies. The aim of the recommended studies is to reveal any effect (to the extent of the measurements/ parameters collected) of the active substance(s) on mammalian reproduction. As such, the studies are designed to incorporate exposure of mature adults and all stages of development from conception to sexual maturity. For convenience, the reproductive life cycle is divided into six periods (A through F) so that the periods assessed by each study criteria can be easily envisioned. The six periods are essentially as follows ... 

A fundamental objective of a computer system applied to automate a pharmaceutical GMP operation is to ensure the quality attributes of the drug product are upheld throughout the manufacturing process. It is therefore important that quality-critical parameters are determined and approved early in the validation life cycle. The exercise should be undertaken to a written procedure with base information from the master product/production record file examined and quality-critical parameter values and limits documented and approved for the process and its operation. In addition, the process and instrument diagrams (P IDs) should be reviewed to confirm the measurement and control components that have a direct impact on the quality-critical parameters and data. This exercise should be carried out by an assessment team made up of user representatives with detailed knowledge of both the computer system application and process, and with responsibility for product quality, system operational use, maintenance, and project implementation. This exercise may be conducted as part of an initial hazard and operability study (HAZOP) and needs to confirm the quality-related critical parameters for use in (or referenced by) the computer control system URS. 

Description of process/environment Quality-related critical parameters Purpose and objectives of the system Major benefits of the system Special requirements Specific training needs System operating strategy Related GMP compliance/regulations Physical and logical boundaries System GMP risk assessment System validation rationale Life-cycle documentation Assumptions and prerequisites Limitations and exclusions Quality-related critical parameters/data Standard operating procedures System requirement specification Supplier and system history... 

One year before Ayres publications [7,8], Cornelissen [9] completed his PhD dissertation in which he had combined life cycle analysis with exergy analysis. He called this extension of LCA exergetic life cycle analysis. He explained that ELCA should be part of every LCA because the loss via dissipation of exergy is one of the most important parameters to properly assess a process and measure the depletion of natural resources. Cornelissen even went one step further and extended ELCA to what he called zero-emission ELCA. In this extension of ELCA, the exergy required for the abatement of emissions, that is, the removal and reuse of environmentally friendly storage of emissions, is accounted for. Cornelissen illustrated his ideas with examples of... 

Fish partial and full life-cycle test methods have been used successfully for many years to assess the effects of nonendocrine active chemicals (McKim 1977) and more recently to focus on high-priority endocrine disrupters (Tyler et al. 1998 Huet 2000 Lange et al. 2001). In some cases, there may also be a need to measure the potential for chronic effects on amphibians, for which developmental effect test methods are available (Devillers and Exbrayat 1992 Pickford et al. 2003). Again, in line with current knowledge, PNEC assessments should be based on impaired fitness parameters (e.g., reduced rates of fertility, development, or fecundity) and not on molecular or biochemical changes (see Figure 4.3). 

Cost performance is concerned with every aspect of the life cycle. It is the fundamental driving element within the aviation industry and air transport market, along with safety. AU associated and relevant industry activities are assessed and even enabled by effective cost performance. From a depth perspective, all of the relevant disciplines and parameters for an aircraft or within air transport are highly interrelated and mutually influential, including for examples aerodynamics, materials, structures, systems (such as avionics, hydraulics and power), cost, market demand, environment impact and energy utilisation. 

The quality of biodegradable products is assured not only by the control of the biodegradability parameters but also by the assessment of real functionality. A biodegradable product is useless if it does not perform as a traditional product or better in terms of mechanical resistance, duration and so on. For this reason, the commitment of producers of biodegradable biopolymers in the creation of a quality network able to guarantee the standards of the product, in all the steps of the life cycle, becomes very relevant. 

---