Life cycle impact assessment of microplastics as one component of marine plastic debris

Saling, Peter; Gyuzeleva, Lora; Wittstock, Klaus; Wessolowski, Victoria; Grießhammer, Rainer

doi:10.1007/s11367-020-01802-z

Cited by 46 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Incorporation of marine plastic pollution represents numerous challenges and impacts to the LCA community (Andrady, A. L., 2011; Vince, J. & Hardesty, B. D., 2017) and the first methodological approach to including marine litter of microplastics into LCA is being developed (Saling et al, 2020). In the case of microplastic pollution, only plastic products are responsible for this particular impact, resulting in an inherent tradeoff between plastics and other materials with respect to physical damage to marine systems; therefore, attempts to calculate a payback period for microplastic pollution would be unproductive since there will never be a breakeven point for this impact category, by definition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products

Fetner

Miller

2021

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products

Fetner

Miller

2021

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…However, this would not change our analysis in terms of the relative contribution of the direct impact of microplastics to the impact category of freshwater ecotoxicity. One recent study [20] aimed at creating an entirely new impact category, "Marine Microplastic Potential". In this context, a characterization factor for microplastics was developed, expressed in terms of "pellet equivalents".…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The project aims to develop a methodological Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) framework to characterize the impacts of microplastics into the environment, hence, to characterize the "cause-effect" chain of the release of microplastics into the environment. Within this project, Saling et al [20] developed the first LCA impact assessment method for marine litter, the "Marine Microplastic Potential" (MMP), in units of pellet equivalent points. The authors consider the model behind the MMP method as a starting point for further development of characterization and impact assessment methods relating to marine plastic debris.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Relevant Are Direct Emissions of Microplastics into Freshwater from an LCA Perspective?

et al. 2021

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Microplastics are ubiquitous in ecosystems and a lot of research is being performed to understand their environmental fate and effects on organisms. However, the release and impact of MP has so far not been considered in LCA studies. This is due to missing information on the inventory side about microplastic releases and missing Characterization Factors to quantify the effects of MP. The goal of this study was to elucidate the relevance of MP release into freshwaters from an LCA perspective, by using worst-case assumptions. In accordance with the USEtox framework, an interim and simplified Characterization Factor for the impact category of freshwater ecotoxicity was calculated to be 3231 PAF·m3·d·kg−1. Applying this Characterization Factor, two LCA case studies were conducted, one on a polyester T-Shirt and one with a shower gel containing microplastics. The results show a small contribution of microplastics to the freshwater ecotoxicity for a scenario with state-of-the-art wastewater treatment. Different scenarios varying in microplastic release and removal during wastewater treatment and a sensitivity analysis of the Characterization Factor allowed identifying the potential range of the microplastic contribution to the overall ecotoxicity. In conclusion, the inclusion of microplastic release into LCA only marginally influences the overall environmental effects of the two products in the LCA case studies.

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“…Particles that are not emitted to air and are not in the 0-10 μm range are shown as inventory only and no further estimates are done to determine their fate or characterization. For more detailed information on the impacts the larger size fraction of MP might have on ecosystems, the reader is referred to Saling et al, (2020) , and Lavoie et al, (2021) where effect factors have been derived for a mass of MPs or NPs entering the aquatic compartment ( Saling et al, 2020 ). Considering the long residence time of plastic in the environment and the light density of plastic materials, which increases the likelihood of their transport between compartments, it was deemed less likely that plastic sinks are permanent.…”

Section: Emissions Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impacts expressed in the results consider the remaining mass of the particles as being capable of causing an PM impact. On the other hand, few studies have characterized the damage that losses of plastic might have on ecosystems ( Everaert et al, 2018 ;Lavoie et al, 2021 ;Lechner and Ramler, 2015 ;Redondo-Hasselerharm et al, 2018 ;Saling et al, 2020 ;Woods et al, 2019 ). For the most part, effect studies have been done in the laboratory with often higher concentrations than what is found in nature ( de Sá et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Impacts Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

The impacts of plastic products on air pollution - A simulation study for advanced life cycle inventories of plastics covering secondary microplastic production

Vega

Gross

Birkved

2021

Sustainable Production and Consumption

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A framework, SecμPlast, to include secondary microplastic (MP) formation due to photooxidation into current Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) from cradle-to-grave of products. The framework details how to incorporate secondary MP formation into the plastic's life cycle as related to the plastic's use phase, and location specific waste treatment and how to connect the impacts with current life cycle impact assessment methodologies (LCIA). Plastics, now ubiquitous in the environment are a potential source of emerging pollution and have been shown to have negative effects of various species. Thus, the framework consist of 1) a degradation module, which accounts for micro-and nano-plastic formation with dynamic degradation of microparticles, 2) an emissions module accounts for the potential of the plastic particles to be emitted to air, and 3) an impacts module which connects the various emissions to existing LCIA methods. The framework allows for quantification of secondary microplastic in an LCA context and for further characterization of the impacts at endpoints in terms of human health, and allows for a high level of regionalization, both in terms of input data and characterization of impact damages. Secμ-Plast was tested on a case study of mulch film which showed that the per kg contribution to particulate matter (PM) and other impacts is low. The impacts vary largely depending on the degradation rate and ranged from 9.24 ×10 −6 to 0.0 0 043 kg PM equivalents per kg of mulch film, depending on either a slow or fast degradation rate, respectively. The impact came mostly from the littered fraction, which was estimated to be 10% of the products weight after the use phase, in Europe. The degradation rates due to UV degradation were low, 0.034 μg/year for a slow degradation rate, compared to values derived from the literature, 0.345 μg/year for a fast degradation rate during littering, that included other sources of degradation, such as abrasion. However, when these impacts are scaled up to the European consumption of plastics and monetized, it is evident that even small increases of PM are costly for society and could potentially amount to millions of dollars per year in human health damages. Further research efforts should focus on filling data gaps, such as microplastic losses during production, recycling and potentially incineration, as well as degradation kinetics including other degradation factors such as freeze/thawing, wet/drying in combination with UV degradation.

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Life cycle impact assessment of microplastics as one component of marine plastic debris

Cited by 46 publications

References 45 publications

Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products

Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products

How Relevant Are Direct Emissions of Microplastics into Freshwater from an LCA Perspective?

The impacts of plastic products on air pollution - A simulation study for advanced life cycle inventories of plastics covering secondary microplastic production

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