Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
11.3.2.3 Summary and Perspectives ........................................... 249
11.3.3 Nano-Specificities for Life Cycle Impact Assessment .............. 249
11.3.3.1 Life Cycle Impact Assessment Framework for
Nanoparticle Toxicity ..................................................... 249
11.3.3.2 Fate and Exposure to Nanoparticles ............................ 252
11.3.3.3 Human Health Dose-Response and Effect Factor ..... 256
11.3.3.4 Ecotoxicological Impacts ................................................ 261
11.3.4 Nanospecific Interpretation .......................................................... 262
11.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 264
References ............................................................................................................. 265
11.1 Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment
On the basis of a life cycle perspective, we analyze how Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) has been addressing the trade-offs between the risks and benefits
of nanotechnologies, as a replacement for conventional technologies. This
chapter starts by shortly describing the LCA approach and its use to com-
pare the impacts of products for readers that are not familiar with LCA. It
then discusses how the LCA approach applies to nano-based products. It
comprehensively reviews the existing LCA literature of case studies applied
to nano-based products. Finally, it identifies the main questions that need to
be addressed.
LCA evaluates the environmental impact of a product, a service, or a sys-
tem in relation to a particular function, and considers all of its life cycle
stages. It helps identify where improvements can be made in a product's life
cycle and helps in designing new products. Primarily, this tool is used to
compare the environmental load of various products, processes, or systems,
and a particular product's different life cycle stages.
11.1.1 LCA and Other Environmental Tools
Different environmental tools are incorporated into policy and decision
making. Preliminary choices and evaluations of technological systems can
be based on concepts such as life cycle thinking (qualitative consideration
of the whole life cycle of a good), environmental design (consideration of
environmental parameters when designing a good), or industrial ecology
(consideration of the economic life cycle, accounting for the possibility that
the waste of one industry can become a resource for another). These tools
generally do not provide quantified assessments but help properly set up the
problem. More quantitative procedures and tools are used to support deci-
sion making by different end users. Environmental impact assessments are
used as legal authorization to assess the local impacts of a proposed project.
