Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Step 5: Decide, Document, and Act.
. At. this. stage,. a. review. team. critically.
analyzes. the. results. to. decide. how. to. proceed.. The. team. documents. and.
communicates.the.results,.and.determines.the.course.of.action.for.reining.
or.updating.the.conclusions.
Step 6: Review and Adapt.
. This. step. ensures. that. the. risk. characterization.
and. risk. management. protocols. continue. to. evolve. as. new. information.
becomes.available.
The.authors.of.the.Framework.developed.several.case.studies.to.test.the.Frame-
work..Three.of.the.case.studies.pertained.to.materials.targeted.in.this.topic:.nano.
titanium.dioxide,.zero-valent.iron,.and.carbon.nanotubes..Tables.11.1.through.11.3.
summarize.those.case.studies.[5-7].
11.2.3 xl i
nsuranCe
d
atabase
p
rOtOCOl
The.preceding.adaptations.of.LCA.focused.on.the.nanomaterials.themselves..In.con-
trast,.researchers.at.Rice.University,.Golder.Associates,.and.XL.Insurance.focused.
on.the.materials.and.processes.used.to.manufacture.nanomaterials.[8,.9]..Their.risk.
analysis.used.the.XL.Insurance.Database.Protocol,.which.is.used.to.calculate.insur-
ance. premiums. for. the. chemical. industry,. to. examine. the. industrial. fabrication. of.
ive.nanomaterials..Those.included.three.of.the.nanomaterials.discussed.at.length.in.
this.topic:.single-walled.carbon.nanotubes,.C60.fullerenes,.and.nano-titanium.diox-
ide..The.risk.analysis.entailed.the.following.steps,.as.shown.in.Figure.11.1.
.
1.. Identify.process.and.materials:
.
a..
Determine.synthesis.methods,.based.on.process.currently.used.for.com-
mercial.production.or.on.processes.likely.to.be.scaled.up.for.commercial.
production.
.
b..
Create.block.low.diagram.showing.inputs.to.and.outputs.from.the.man-
ufacturing.process,.omitting.energy.use.
.
2.. Characterize.materials.and.processes:
.
a..
Collect.and.characterize.data.on.material.properties..Note.that.these.data.
pertain.to.the.raw.materials.used.to.manufacture.the.nanomaterials.and.
the.byproducts.of.fabrication;.they.do.not.pertain.to.the.nanomaterials.
themselves.. Critical. data. include. toxicity,. as. expressed. by. LC50. and.
LD50,.water.solubility,.log.K
ow
,.lammability,.and.expected.emissions..
These. initial. data. may. trigger. the. need. for. additional. information.
according.to.the.protocol,.so.characterization.of.material.properties.is.
an.iterative.step..The.protocol.uses.the.collected.data.on.material.prop-
erties.to.rank.substances.by.relative.risk.
.
b..
Deine.manufacturing.processes.according.to.characteristics.that.deter-
mine.risks,.that.is,.temperature,.pressure,.and.enthalpy..Then,.for.each.
point. in. the. process. and. for. each. of. the. substances. involved. in. the.
manufacturing.process.(except.the.nanomaterial),.identify.these.char-
acteristics:. amount. present,. role. in. the. process,. physical. phase. at. the.
temperature.and.pressure.speciied;.and.potential.emissions..This.step.
allows.the.model.to.calculate.the.probability.of.exposure.from.an.in-
process.accident.and.from.normal.operations.
