Drivers of U.S. toxicological footprints trajectory 1998–2013

Abstract

By exploiting data from the Toxic Release Inventory of the United States, we have established that the toxicological footprint (TF) increased by 3.3% (88.4 Mt) between 1998 and 1999 and decreased by 39% (1088.5 Mt) between 1999 and 2013. From 1999 to 2006, the decreasing TF was driven by improvements in emissions intensity (i.e. gains in production efficiency) through toxic chemical management options: cleaner production; end of pipe treatment; transfer for further waste management; and production scale. In particular, the mining sector reduced its TF through outsourcing processes. Between 2006 and 2009, decreasing TF was due to decrease in consumption volume triggered by economic recession. Since 2009, the economic recovery increased TF, overwhelming the influence of improved emissions intensity through population growth, consumption and production structures. Accordingly, attaining a less-toxic economy and environment will be influenced by a combination of gains in production efficiency through improvement in emissions mitigation technologies and changes in consumption patterns. Overall, the current analysis highlights the structural dynamics of toxic chemical release and would inform future formulation of effective mitigation standards and management protocols towards the detoxification of the environment.

Life cycle assessment of functional materials and devices: Opportunities, challenges, and current and future trends

“…The environmental IO modelling method is performed by relating the IO tables to emission intensities. The result is the computation of the upstream, indirect emissions associated with the supply chain being incorporated into the study . While the IO methodology is faster than the process‐based technique, it does not afford the same level of detail and can become quickly out of date as IO data are issued every 3‐5 years .…”

“…The result is the computation of the upstream, indirect emissions associated with the supply chain being incorporated into the study. 7,[41][42][43][44] While the IO methodology is faster than the process-based technique, it does not afford the same level of detail and can become quickly out of date as IO data are issued every 3-5 years. 32 More importantly, the method suffers from a number of well-recognized limitations, including proportionality and homogeneity assumption, conversion of economic quantities into physical quantities and less specificity because of the aggregation of a range of activities in one sector.…”

Are lead-free piezoelectrics more environmentally friendly?

“…Pb is a toxic heavy metal that has been the subject of calls for elimination from all consumer electronics and products, [1][2][3][4][5][6] based on worldwide initiatives for electronic equipment reuse and recycling such as the EU directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS). [3,7,8] …”

“…Pb is a toxic heavy metal that has been the subject of calls for elimination from all consumer electronics and products, [1][2][3][4][5][6] based on worldwide initiatives for electronic equipment reuse and recycling such as the EU directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS). [3,7,8] A fundamental issue that emerges with the recognition of PZT's toxicity is the need to find surrogate materials (with improved eco-friendliness and excellent piezo-activity) in the myriad of products in which PZT plays a major functional role. Potassium sodium niobate (K x Na 1−x NbO 3 or KNN hereafter) is a potential Pb-free replacement for PZT [4] and for room temperature applications in particular looks promising.…”

Decomposition of toxicity emission changes on the demand and supply sides: empirical study of the US industrial sector

“…CO 2 emissions , Lan et al 2016, rare metal consumption (Nansai et Shigetomi et al 2015) and nitrogen circulation (Oita et al 2016)). Koh et al (2016) analysed the consumption-based emission amount of chemical substances, although they did not clearly consider the toxicity of the chemical substances. Policy makers typically focus on the toxicity of chemical substance emissions but not on the emission amount itself (Chakraborty and Green 2014) because chemical toxicity directly affects human health and wildlife biodiversity (Romanelli et al 2015).…”