Successful and sustainable innovation depends on having a clear understanding of environmental performance of a product throughout the whole life cycle from the sourcing of raw materials to ultimate disposal at end of life. Life cycle Assessment (LCA) provides these properties. It is a powerful tool to analyse and/or compare products or processes. Within LCA, Particulate Matter (PM) is a major contributor to the total damage to human health for many products or processes. However, PM is represented in LCA mostly as particles with a one diameter (usually particles smaller than 10 �m; PM10), although there is strong evidence that the reason for the damage is manifold and that smaller particles potentially lead to more damage than bigger particles. This project presents how particles, including engineered nanoparticles, released to the air can be modelled taking into account chemical and physical properties like size class (PM0.1, PM2.5, PM10), solubility and chemical composition. The modelling follows the recommendations of the ILCD Handbook of LCA standards for particles released to the air. The model includes a fate, an exposure and an effect model. The emission is expressed as mass for PM2.5 and PM10 and as number concentration for the nanoparticulate fraction (PM0.1), since the number concentration is an accurate measure for very small particles, while mass is almost irrelevant. The fate model links the emission to an exposition and includes dispersion, coagulation and dry as well as wet deposition. Exposure models the mass/number of particles deposited in the lung depending on particle size. The toxic effects are expressed as a function of size, solubility and chemical composition of the particles. The damage finally is expressed in disability adjusted life years (DALY) and hence allows comparison to all other midpoint categories referring to damage on human health (e.g. ionising radiation, climate change, ozone layer depletion).

Life cycle impact assessment modelling: Damage to human health from particles released to the air including nanoparticles

247th National Meeting (2014)

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