Laura Golsteijn

Including exposure variability in the life cycle impact assessment of indoor chemical emissions: the case of metal degreasing.

The present paper describes a method that accounts for variation in indoor chemical exposure settings and accompanying human toxicity in life cycle assessment (LCA). Metal degreasing with dichloromethane was used as a case study to show method in practice. We compared the human toxicity related to the degreasing of 1m(2) of metal surface in different exposure scenarios for industrial workers, professional users outside industrial settings, and home consumers. The fraction of the chemical emission that is taken in by exposed individuals (i.e. the intake fraction) was estimated on the basis of operational conditions (e.g. exposure duration), and protective measures (e.g. local exhaust ventilation). The introduction of a time-dependency and a correction for protective measures resulted in reductions in the intake fraction of up to 1.5 orders of magnitude, compared to application of existing, less advanced models. In every exposure scenario, the life cycle impacts for human toxicity were mainly caused by indoor exposure to metal degreaser (>60%). Emissions released outdoors contributed up to 22% of the life cycle impacts for human toxicity, and the production of metal degreaser contributed up to 19%. These findings illustrate that human toxicity from indoor chemical exposure should not be disregarded in LCA case studies. Particularly when protective measures are taken or in the case of a short duration (1h or less), we recommend the use of our exposure scenario-specific approach.

Including ecotoxic impacts on warm‐blooded predators in life cycle impact assessment

In current life cycle impact assessment, the focus of ecotoxicity is on cold-blooded species. We developed a method to calculate characterization factors (CFs) for the impact assessment of chemical emissions on warm-blooded predators in freshwater food chains. The method was applied to 329 organic chemicals. The CF for these predators was defined as a multiplication of the fate factor (FF), exposure factor (XF), bioaccumulation factor (BF), and effect factor (EF). Fate factors and XFs were calculated with the model USES-LCA 2.0. Bioaccumulation factors were calculated with the model OMEGA, for chemical uptake via freshwater, food, and air. Effect factors were calculated based on experimental, median lethal doses (LD50). The concentration buildup (CB) of the chemicals (i.e., FF, XF, and BF over the 3 routes of exposure) showed a range of 7 to 9 orders of magnitude, depending on the emission compartment. Effect factors displayed a range of 7 orders of magnitude. Characterization factors ranged 9 orders of magnitude. After emissions to freshwater, the relative contribution of the uptake routes to CB were 1% (90% confidence interval [CI]: 0%-2%) for uptake from air, 43% (11%-50%) for uptake from water, and 56% (50%-87%) for uptake from food. After an emission to agricultural soil, the contribution was 11% (0%-80%) for uptake from air, 39% (5%-50%) for uptake from water, and 50% (11%-83%) for uptake from food. Uptake from air was mainly relevant for emissions to air (on average 42%, 90% CI: 5%-98%). Characterization factors for cold-blooded species were typically 4 orders of magnitude higher than CFs for warm-blooded predators. The correlation between both types of CFs was low, which means that a high relative impact on cold-blooded species does not necessarily indicate a high relative impact on warm-blooded predators. Depending on the weighing method to be considered, the inclusion of impacts on warm-blooded predators can change the relative ranking of toxic chemicals in a life cycle assessment.

A compilation of life cycle studies for six household detergent product categories in Europe: the basis for product-specific A.I.S.E. Charter Advanced Sustainability Profiles

BackgroundA.I.S.E., the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products, launched the ‘A.I.S.E. Charter for Sustainable Cleaning’ in Europe in 2005 to promote sustainability in the cleaning and maintenance products industry. This Charter is a proactive programme for translating the concept of sustainable innovation into reality and actions. Per product category, life cycle assessments (LCA) are used to set sustainability criteria that are ambitious, but also achievable by all market players.ResultsThis paper presents and discusses LCAs of six household detergent product categories conducted for the Charter, i.e.: manual dishwashing detergents, powder and tablet laundry detergents, window glass trigger spray cleaners, bathroom trigger spray cleaners, acid toilet cleaners, and bleach toilet cleaners. Relevant impact categories are identified, as well as the life cycle stages with the largest contribution to the environmental impact.ConclusionsIt was concluded that the variables that mainly drive the results (i.e. the environmental hotspots) for manual dishwashing detergents and laundry detergents were the water temperature, water consumption (for manual dishwashing detergents), product dosage (for laundry detergents), and the choice and amount of surfactant. By contrast, for bathroom trigger sprays, acid and bleach toilet cleaners, the driving factors were plastic packaging, transportation to retailer, and specific ingredients. Additionally, the type of surfactant was important for bleach toilet cleaners. For window glass trigger sprays, the driving factors were the plastic packaging and the type of surfactant, and the other ingredients were of less importance. A.I.S.E. used the results of the studies to establish sustainability criteria, the so-called ‘Charter Advanced Sustainability Profiles’, which led to improvements in the marketplace.

Spatial variability versus parameter uncertainty in freshwater fate and exposure factors of chemicals

We compared the influence of spatial variability in environmental characteristics and the uncertainty in measured substance properties of seven chemicals on freshwater fate factors (FFs), representing the residence time in the freshwater environment, and on exposure factors (XFs), representing the dissolved fraction of a chemical. The influence of spatial variability was quantified using the SimpleBox model in which Europe was divided in 100 × 100 km regions, nested in a regional (300 × 300 km) and supra-regional (500 × 500 km) scale. Uncertainty in substance properties was quantified by means of probabilistic modelling. Spatial variability and parameter uncertainty were expressed by the ratio k of the 95%ile and 5%ile of the FF and XF. Our analysis shows that spatial variability ranges in FFs of persistent chemicals that partition predominantly into one environmental compartment was up to 2 orders of magnitude larger compared to uncertainty. For the other (less persistent) chemicals, uncertainty in the FF was up to 1 order of magnitude larger than spatial variability. Variability and uncertainty in freshwater XFs of the seven chemicals was negligible (k < 1.5). We found that, depending on the chemical and emission scenario, accounting for region-specific environmental characteristics in multimedia fate modelling, as well as accounting for parameter uncertainty, can have a significant influence on freshwater fate factor predictions. Therefore, we conclude that it is important that fate factors should not only account for parameter uncertainty, but for spatial variability as well, as this further increases the reliability of ecotoxicological impacts in LCA.

Revision of the EU Ecolabel Criteria for: Laundry detergents and industrial and institutional laundry detergents. Preliminary Report

The EU Ecolabel criteria for laundry detergents and industrial and institutional laundry detergents are under revision. This revision process will take into account the current market conditions and the EU Ecolabel criteria will aim at addressing the most important environmental impacts of the laundry detergents (consumer and industrial and institutional detergents) in a life cycle perspective. The identification of the main hotspots is carried out in this study by means of an initial extensive literature review and subsequent LCA studies. LCA studies shown that the energy used for heating the washing water during the use stage, has an impact in all the environmental categories under study but especially on fossil fuel depletion and global warming potential. The extraction and processing of raw materials that cause impacts on the categories such as mineral depletion, land use and energy use as well as the emissions to the environment (discharge of wastewater) has also impacts of importance depending on the scenario under consideration. The study reveals that there are several improvement opportunities such as detergent compaction which can bring savings in resources or reduction in the wash temperature. Changes in the detergent formulation can also reduce the impacts in different categories.

Revision of the EU Ecolabel Criteria for: All-purpose cleaners, sanitary cleaners and window cleaners. Preliminary Report

The EU Ecolabel criteria for all purpose cleaners, sanitary cleaners and window cleaners are under revision. This revision process will take into account the current market conditions and the EU Ecolabel criteria will aim at addressing the most important environmental impacts of the all-purpose cleaners in a life cycle perspective. The identification of the main hotspots is carried out in this study by means of an initial extensive literature review and subsequent LCA studies. LCA studies showed that sourcing of the raw materials is the most relevant environmental aspect followed by heating up the water during cleaning if needed. Based on the normalisation assessment, by far the most significant impact category for all-purpose cleaners in Europe is natural land transformation. These findings are in agreement with the published literature and can be extrapolated to other all-purpose cleaners such as sanitary cleaners and window cleaners. The study reveals that there are several improvement opportunities such as cleaner concentration which can bring savings in resources or reduction in the wash temperature. Changes in the detergent formulation can also reduce the impacts in different categories.

Toward Harmonizing Ecotoxicity Characterization in Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Ecosystem quality is an important area of protection in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Chemical pollution has adverse impacts on ecosystems on a global scale. To improve methods for assessing ecosystem impacts, the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme established a task force to evaluate the state-of-the-science in modeling chemical exposure of organisms and the resulting ecotoxicological effects for use in LCIA. The outcome of the task force work will be global guidance and harmonization by recommending changes to the existing practice of exposure and effect modeling in ecotoxicity characterization. These changes will reflect the current science and ensure the stability of recommended practice. Recommendations must work within the needs of LCIA in terms of 1) operating on information from any inventory reporting chemical emissions with limited spatiotemporal information, 2) applying best estimates rather than conservative assumptions to ensure unbiased comparison with results for other impact categories, and 3) yielding results that are additive across substances and life cycle stages and that will allow a quantitative expression of damage to the exposed ecosystem. We describe the current framework and discuss research questions identified in a roadmap. Primary research questions relate to the approach toward ecotoxicological effect assessment, the need to clarify the methods scope and interpretation of its results, the need to consider additional environmental compartments and impact pathways, and the relevance of effect metrics other than the currently applied geometric mean of toxicity effect data across species. Because they often dominate ecotoxicity results in LCIA, we give metals a special focus, including consideration of their possible essentiality and changes in environmental bioavailability. We conclude with a summary of key questions along with preliminary recommendations to address them as well as open questions that require additional research efforts. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2955-2971.