Particulate matter (PM) is a significant contributor to death and disease globally. This paper summarizes the work of an international expert group on the integration of human exposure to PM into life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), within the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. We review literature-derived intake fraction values (the fraction of emissions that are inhaled), based on emission release height and "archetypal" environment (indoor versus outdoor; urban, rural, or remote locations). Recommended intake fraction values are provided for primary PM(10-2.5) (coarse particles), primary PM(2.5) (fine particles), and secondary PM(2.5) from SO(2), NO(x), and NH(3). Intake fraction values vary by orders of magnitude among conditions considered. For outdoor primary PM(2.5), representative intake fraction values (units: milligrams inhaled per kilogram emitted) for urban, rural, and remote areas, respectively, are 44, 3.8, and 0.1 for ground-level emissions, versus 26, 2.6, and 0.1 for an emission-weighted stack height. For outdoor secondary PM, source location and source characteristics typically have only a minor influence on the magnitude of the intake fraction (exception: intake fraction values can be an order of magnitude lower for remote-location emission than for other locations). Outdoor secondary PM(2.5) intake fractions averaged over respective locations and stack heights are 0.89 (from SO(2)), 0.18 (NO(x)), and 1.7 (NH(3)). Estimated average intake fractions are greater for primary PM(10-2.5) than for primary PM(2.5) (21 versus 15), owing in part to differences in average emission height (lower, and therefore closer to people, for PM(10-2.5) than PM(2.5)). For indoor emissions, typical intake fraction values are ∼1000-7000. This paper aims to provide as complete and consistent an archetype framework as possible, given current understanding of each pollutant. Values presented here facilitate incorporating regional impacts into LCIA for human health damage from PM.
Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is a lively field of research, and data and models are continuously improved in terms of impact pathways covered, reliability, and spatial detail. However, many of these advancements are scattered throughout the scientific literature, making it difficult for practitioners to apply the new models. Here, we present the LC‐IMPACT method that provides characterization factors at the damage level for 11 impact categories related to three areas of protection (human health, ecosystem quality, natural resources). Human health damage is quantified as disability adjusted life years, damage to ecosystem quality as global species extinction equivalents (based on potentially disappeared fraction of species), and damage to mineral resources as kilogram of extra ore extracted. Seven of the impact categories include spatial differentiation at various levels of spatial scale. The influence of value choices related to the time horizon and the level of scientific evidence of the impacts considered is quantified with four distinct sets of characterization factors. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method with an illustrative life cycle assessment example of different fuel options in Europe (petrol or biofuel). Differences between generic and regionalized impacts vary up to two orders of magnitude for some of the selected impact categories, highlighting the importance of spatial detail in LCIA. This article met the requirements for a gold – gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.
20We developed regionalized characterization factors (CFs) for human health damage from particulate 21 matter (PM2.5) and ozone, and for damage to vegetation from ozone, at the global scale. These factors 22 can be used in the impact assessment phase of an environmental life cycle assessment. CFs express the 23 overall damage of a certain pollutant per unit of emission of a precursor, i.e. primary PM2.5, nitrogen 24 oxides (NO x ), ammonia (NH 3 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and non-methane volatile organic compounds 25 (NMVOCs). The global chemical transport model TM5 was used to calculate intake fractions of PM2.5 26 and ozone for 56 world regions covering the whole globe. Furthermore, region-specific effect and 27 damage factors were derived, using mortality rates, background concentrations and years of life lost. The 28 emission-weighted world average CF for primary PM2.5 emissions is 629 yr•kton into 10 regions only and the effect factor was based on one world-generic concentration-response 89 function, while ammonia (NH 3 ) was not included as a precursor substance. 90To provide more spatial detail on the global scale for both damage to human health and vegetation 91 of air pollution, the aim of this paper was to develop a set of globally applicable and spatially explicit 92 characterization factors for human health damage from particulate matter and ozone, and for damage to 93 vegetation from ozone. For this, we consistently applied one global chemical transport model and 94 determined human intake fractions and ecosystem fate factors for 56 emission and receptor regions. 95Region-specific mortality rates, background concentrations and years of life lost were used to determine 96 human health effect factors. We included cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality due to PM2.5, and 97 respiratory mortality due to ozone.
37Purpose Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) is considered to be one of the most important 38 environmental factors contributing to the global human disease burden. However, due to the 39 lack of broad consensus and harmonization in the life cycle assessment (LCA) community, 40 there is no clear guidance on how to consistently include health effects from PM 2.5 exposure 41 in LCA practice. As a consequence, different models are currently used to assess life cycle 42 impacts for PM 2.5 , sometimes leading to inconsistent results. In a global effort initiated by the 43 UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, respiratory inorganics impacts expressed as health 44 effects from PM 2.5 exposure were selected as one of the initial impact categories to undergo 45 review with the goal of providing global guidance for implementation in life cycle impact 46 assessment (LCIA). The goal of this paper is to summarize the current knowledge and 47 practice for assessing health effects from PM 2.5 exposure and to provide recommendations for 48 their consistent integration into LCIA. 49Methods A task force on human health impacts was convened to build the framework for 50 consistently quantifying health effects from PM 2.5 exposure and for recommending PM 2.5 51 characterization factors. In an initial Guidance Workshop, existing literature was reviewed 52 and input from a broad range of internationally-recognized experts was obtained and 53 discussed. Workshop objectives were to identify the main scientific questions and challenges 54 for quantifying health effects from PM 2.5 exposure, and to provide initial guidance to the 55 impact quantification process. 56Results and recommendations A set of 10 recommendations was developed addressing: 57 (a) the general framework for assessing PM 2.5 -related health effects, (b) approaches and data 58 to estimate human exposure to PM 2.5 using intake fractions, and (c) approaches and data to 59 characterize exposure-response functions (ERF) for PM 2.5 and to quantify severity of the 60 diseases attributed to PM 2.5 exposure. Despite these advances, a number of complex issues, 61 such as those related to non-linearity of the ERF and the possible need to provide different 62 ERF's for use in different geographic regions, require further analysis. 63Conclusions and outlook Questions of how to refine and improve the overall framework 64 were analyzed. Data and models were proposed for harmonizing various elements of the 65 health impact pathways for PM 2.5 . Within the next two years, our goal is to build a global 66 guidance framework and to determine characterization factors that are more reliable for 67 incorporating the health effects from exposure to PM 2.5 into LCIA. Ideally, this will allow 68 quantification of the impacts of both indoor and outdoor exposure to PM 2.5 . 69
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