Life-cycle impact assessment

The third step in a LCA is impact assessment. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is [97, p. 46]  

Selection of impact categories, category indicators, and characterization models. Impact categories are environmental issues of concern. Some, such as ecotoxicity (terrestrial or aquatic) and human health toxicity, are familiar from the discussion of risk characterization in Section 2.2. Others do not typically enter into environmental risk assessments outside the context of LCA. Such impact 

Product Stewardship Life Cycle Analysis and the Environment 

Classification, which is the assigment of LCl resulfs to the selected impact categories. Consider, for example, the case where the LCI comprised a multimedia enviromental model to predict the distribution of a chemical in soil, sedimenf, air, or wafer. The masses (or concentrations) in those different media would then be assigned to the impact categories of ecotoxicity (ferresfrial or aquafic) and human health toxicity depending on the likely exposure to the chemical in each medium. 

LCIA can also include fhree additional steps  

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FIGURE IS.4 Elements of the life cycle impact assessment procedure. 

ISO, Environmental Management—Life Cycle Assessment—Life Cycle Impact Assessment (ISO/DIS 14042),... 

Udo de Haes, H., Finnveden, G., Goedkoop, M. etal. (eds.) (2002) Life Cycle Impact Assessment Striving Towards Best Practice. SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL. 

Life Cycle Interpretation. The results obtained within the Life Cycle Inventory and/or the Life Cycle Impact Assessment are interpreted in the light of the Goal and Scope Definition (e.g., by means of sensitivity or uncertainty analyses) in order to draw conclusions and make recommendations. ... 

The eco-indicator 99 (2001) A Damage Oriented Method for Life Cycle Impact Assessment. PRe Consultant. 

ISO 14042 2000 (2000) Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessment - Life Cycle Impact Assessment. European Commitee for Standardisation, Brussels, Belgium. 

Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Striving towards Best Practice Udo de Haes, Einnveden, Goedkoop, Hauschild, Hertwich, Hofstetter, Jolliet, Klopffer, Krewitt, Lindeijer, Miiller-Wenk, Olsen, Pennington, Potting, Steen, editors... 

The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is used to assess the results of the LCA and evaluate the impact on the environment in the various impact categories. These impact categories include, for example, human health, GWP, energy, water use, eutrophication, ozone depletion, aquatic toxicity, and land use (ISO, 2006b). LCA may focus on one or more impact categories. The results may be normalized, weighted, and aggregated in optional steps of the LCIA for comparison to political objectives, for example. In addition, sensitivity analyses are often conducted over the entire LCA to evaluate the variation in the results due to selected factors. 

The inventory results should be presented in clear form, how much and what substances from the environment enter the system and how much get out. These results serve for subsequent life cycle impact assessment [48], The aim of the life cycle impact assessment is to measurably compare the environmental impacts of product systems and to compare their severity with new quantifiable variables identified as impact category. The impact categories are areas of specific environmental problems such as global warming, climate changes, acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity and others. Already in the phase of definition of the LCA study scope, it is necessary to describe what impact category will be applied and which of their environmental mechanisms will serve as a basis for impact assessment [46],... 

Abstract Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool to assess impacts of cradle-to-grave chains of products/services. In the Riskcycle framework, the focus is on additives. Additives are usually minor constituents of products, but depending on their specific properties they can be important in the total scope of impacts of such products. In the LCA literature, additives are hardly visible. Most case studies of products containing additives do not mention them. The reasons for this are unclear, but are at least partly due to the fact that information on additives is not included in standard LCA databases. This is true for both life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) databases. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude whether or not additives indeed are important contributors to environmental impacts over the life cycle. 

Hertwich EG (1999) Toxic equivalency addressing human health effects in life cycle impact assessment. PhD Thesis, University of California, Berkeley... 

In this chapter the risk assessment is briefly introduced. Risk assessment is divided into four steps hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. This chapter also highlights five risk and life cycle impact assessment models (EUSES, USEtox, GLOBOX, SADA, and MAFRAM) that allows for assessment of risks to human health and the environment. In addition other 12 models were appointed. Finally, in the last section of this chapter, there is a compilation of useful data sources for risk assessment. The data source selection is essential to obtain high quality data. This source selection is divided into two parts. First, six frequently used databases for physicochemical... 

Keywords Environmental and risk assessment models, Life-cycle Impact assessment models, Physicochemical and toxicological database... 

Table 1 Differences in the principles of assessing the potential for ecotoxicological and toxicological effects in risk assessment vs. life cycle impact assessment (based on Olsen et al. [7])...

Risk assessment (RA) Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)... 

Apart from the risk assessment models, there exist models for assessing impacts to human health and the environment in LCA. Both tools [risk assessment and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)] have different purposes and aims that are summarized in Table 1 [7]. 

Olsen SI, Christensen FM, Hauschild M et al (2001) Life cycle impact assessment and risk assessment of chemicals -a methodological comparison. Environ Impact Assess Rev 21 385 104... 

Rosenbaum R, Bachmann TM, Gold LS, Huijbregts MAJ, Jolliet O, Juraske R, Koehler A, Larsen HF, MacLeod M, Margni M, McKone TE, Payet J, Schuhmacher M, van de Meent D, Hauschild MZ (2008) USEtox the UNEP-SETAC toxicity model recommended characterisation factors for human toxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity in life cycle impact assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 13 532-546... 

Jolliet O, Margni M, Charles R, Humbert S, Payet J, Rebitzer G, Rosenbaum R (2003) IMPACT 2002+ a new life cycle impact assessment methodology. Int J LCA 8 324-330... 

ISO (2000) ISO 14042 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Life cycle impact assessment. International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva... 

The aim of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is to facilitate the interpretation of the results of the inventory analysis. The result of the inventory analysis is an emission profile for each alternative system. In this study the emission profile is the total of all emissions to air, water and soil from the grave-to-cradle chain for the use of cushion vinyl floor covering, including the up chain processes, like electricity production and the down chain processes, like the incineration and landfill of the waste. Such an emission profile may consist of hundreds of emissions and extractions. In LCA impact assessment the total of interventions (emissions, extractions) of a process chain is evaluated in terms of environmental problems (impact categories). 

Meijer A, Huijbregts M, Reijnders L (2005) Human health damages due to indoor sources of organic compounds and radioactivity in life cycle impact assessment of dwellings - part 1 characterisation factors (8 pp). Int J Life Cycle Assess 10(5) 309-316... 

LCA activity has three components as defined by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) life-cycle inventory, life-cycle impact assessment. 

Life-cycle impact assessment Technical, quantitative, and/or quaUtative process to characterize and assess die effect of die environmental loading identified in die inventory component. 

Life-cycle impact assessment Most appropriate use in chemistry and chemical technologies Congruous with current GMP and practices How efficient is the process ... 

Udo de Haes, H. and Lindeijer, E., (2002) Areas of protection. The areas of protection in life cycle impact assessment. Final draft chapter, in Global LCA Village, Gate to Environmental and Health Science (EHS), (ed. Klopffer, W.), Ecomed, Landsherg, pp. 1—8. 

Inventory analysis involves data collection and calculation procedures to quantify relevant inputs and outputs of a product system. These inputs and outputs may include the use of resources and releases to air, water, and land associated with the system. These data also constitute the input to the life-cycle impact assessment. 

Barnthouse, L. Fava, J. Humphreys, K. Hunt, R. Laibson, L. Noesen, S. Norris, G. et al. (eds.), Evolution and Development of the Conceptual Framework and Methodology of Life-Cycle Impact Assessment an Addendum to Life-Cycle Impact Assessment The State-of-the-Art, 2nd edn., Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Pensacola, FL, 1997. 

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