Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Life cycle assessment of façade coating systems containing manufactured nanomaterials

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Nanoparticle Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nanotechnologies are expected to hold considerable potential for the development of new materials in the construction sector. Up to now the environmental benefits and risks of products containing manufactured nanomaterials (MNM) have been quantified only to a limited extent. This study aims to assess the potential environmental, health and safety impacts of coatings containing MNM using Life-cycle assessment: Do paints containing MNM result in a better environmental performance than paints not containing MNM? The study shows that the results depend on a number of factors: (i) The MNM have to substitute an (active) ingredient of the initial paint composition and not simply be an additional ingredient. (ii) The new composition has to extend the lifetime of the paint for such a time period that the consumption of paint along the life cycle of a building is reduced. (iii) Releases of MNM have to be reduced to the lowest level possible (in particular by dumping unused paint together with the packaging). Only when all these boundary conditions are fulfilled, which is the case only for one of the three paint systems examined, is an improved environmental performance of the MNM-containing paint possible for the paint compositions examined in this study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Within this publication, the term “manufactured nanomaterials” and its abbreviation “MNM” are used according to the definition of the European Commission (EC 2011) indicating that this term designates all those manufactured materials “containing particles, in an unbound state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and where, for 50 % or more of the particles in the number size distribution, one or more external dimensions is in the size range 1–100 nm”.

References

  • Al-Kattan A, Wichser A, Vonbank R, Brunner S, Ulrich A, Zuin S, Nowack B (2013) Release of TiO2 from paints containing pigment-TiO2 or nano-TiO2 by weathering. Environ Sci Process Impacts 15:2186–2193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asmatulu E, Twomey J, Overcash MR (2012) Life cycle and nano-products: end-of-life assessment. J Nanopart Res. doi:10.1007/s11051-012-0720-0

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauer C, Buchgeister J, Hischier R, Poganietz WR, Schebek L, Warsen J (2008) Environmental prospects in products—a framework for life cycle thinking on nano scales. J Clean Prod 16(8–9):910–926

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BMU (2008) Verantwortlicher Umgang mit Nanotechnologien: Bericht und Empfehlungen der NanoKommission der deutschen Bundesregierung. Bundesministerium für Umwelt (BMU), Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolyard SC, Reinhart DR, Santra S (2013) Behavior of engineered nanopartilces in landfill leachate. Environ Sci Technol 47:8114–8122

    Google Scholar 

  • Doka G (2007) Life cycle inventories of waste treatment services. EMPA St Gallen, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

    Google Scholar 

  • EC (2011) Commission Recommendation of 18 October 2011 on the definition of nanomaterial. 2011/696/EU. Official J Eur Union, Brussels (Belgium)

  • ECHA (2010) Guidance on information requirements and chemical safety assessment Chap R.16: Environmental Exposure Estimation. ECHA-10-G-06-EN. European Chemicals Agency

  • ecoinvent Centre (2010) ecoinvent data v2.2. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavankar S, Suh S, Keller AF (2012) Life cycle assessment at nanoscale: review and recommendations. Int J Life Cycle Assess 17:295–303. doi:10.1007/s11367-011-0368-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goedkoop M, Heijungs R, Huijbregts MAJ, de Schreyver A, Struijs J, Van Zelm R (2012) ReCiPe 2008—a life cycle impact assessment method which comprises harmonised category indicators at the midpoint and the endpoint level. First edition (revised)/Report I: Characterisation. VROM—Ministery of Housing Spatial Planning and Environment, Den Haag (the Netherlands)

  • Gottschalk F, Sun TY, Nowack B (2013) Environmental concentrations of engineered nanomaterials: review of modelling and analytical studies. Environ Pollut 181:287–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanus MJ, Harris AT (2013) Nanotechnology innovations for the construction industry. Prog Mater Sci 58:1056–1102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hischier R (2014) Framework for LCI modelling of nanoparticle releases along the life cycle. Int J LCA 19(4):838–849

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hischier R, Walser T (2012) Environmental sustainability assessment of engineered nanomaterials: state of art & strategies to overcome existing gaps. Sci Total Environ 425:271–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huijbregts MAJ, Hauschild M, Jolliet O, Margni M, McKone T, Rosenbaum R, Van de Meent D (2010a) USEtox User Manual. USEtox Team

  • Huijbregts MAJ, Margni M, Jolliet O, McKone T, Van de Meent D, Rosenbaum R, Hauschild M (2010b) USEtox Chemical-specific database: inorganics. Report version 1.00. USEtox Team

  • ISO (2006a) Environmental management—life cycle assessment—principles and framework. International Standardization Organization (ISO), European Standard EN ISO 14′040, Geneva (Switzerland)

  • ISO (2006b) environmental management—life cycle assessment—requirements and guidelines. International Standardisation Organisation (ISO), European Standard EN ISO 14′044, Geneva (Switzerland)

  • Khan IA, Berge ND, Sabo-Attwood T, Ferguson PL, Saleh NB (2013) Singe-walled carbon nanotube transport in representative municipal solid waste landfill conditions. Environ Sci Technol 47:8425–8433

    Google Scholar 

  • Köhler A, Som C, Helland A, Gottschalk F (2008) Studying the potential release of carbon nanotubes throughout the application life cycle. J Clean Prod 16(8–9):927–937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linkov I, Seager T (2011) Coupling multi-criteria decision analysis, life cycle assessment and risk assessment for emerging threats. Environ Sci Technol 45:5068–5074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ness B, Urbel-Piirsalu E, Anderberg S, Olsson L (2007) Categorising tools for sustainability assessment. Ecol Econ 60:498–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowack B (2009) Is anything out there? What life cycle perspectives of nano-products can tell us about nanoparticles in the environment. Nano Today 4(1):11–12. doi:10.1016/j.nantod.2008.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piccinno F, Gottschalk F, Seeger S, Nowack B (2012) Industrial production quantities and uses of ten engineered nanomaterials in Europe and the world. J Nanopart Res 14:1109. doi:10.1007/s11051-012-1109-9

  • Rebitzer G, Ekvall T, Frischknecht R, Hunkeler D, Norris G, Rydberg T, Schmidt W-P, Suh S, Weidema B, Pennington D (2004) Life cycle assessment part 1: framework, goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, and application. Environ Int 30:701–720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roes AL, Tabak LB, Shen L, Nieuwlaar E, Patel MK (2010) Influence of using nanoobjects as filler on funtionality-based energy use of nanocomposites. J Nanopart Res 12(6):2011–2028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum R, Bachmann TM, Swirsky Gold L, Huijbregts MAJ, Jolliet O, Juraske R, Koehler A, Larsen HF, MacLeod M, Margni M, McKone T, Payet J, Schuhmacher M, Van de Meent D, Hauschild M (2008) USEtox—the UNEP-SETAC toxicity model: recommended characterisation factors for human toxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity in life cycle impact assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 13:532–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salieri B, Righi S, Pasteris A, Olsen SI (2015) Freshwater ecotoxicity characterisation factor for metal oxide nanoparticles: a case study on titanium dioxide nanoparticle. Sci Total Environ 505:494–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teizer J, Venugopal M, Teizer W, Felkl J (2012) Nanotechnology and its impact on construction: bridging the gap between researchers and industry professionals. J Constr Eng Manag 138:595–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Upadhyayula VKK, Meyer DE, Curran MA, Gonzalez MA (2012) Life cycle assessment as a tool to enhance the environmental performance of carbon nanotube products: a review. J Clean Prod 26:37–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walser T, Demou E, Lang DJ, Hellweg S (2011) Prospective environmental life cycle assessment of nanosilver T-shirts. Environ Sci Technol 45(10):4570–4578

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research was internally funded by Empa and externally by ‘NanoHouse’ (grant number 247′810), a research project under the 7th framework programme of the European Commission. We herewith would like to acknowledge the support from all the project partners of ‘NanoHouse’ in the framework of establishing this paper and all the LCA calculations behind it, i.e. CEA (as coordinator), Empa, Consorzio Venezia Ricerche, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Université Joseph Fourier—Laboratoire de Géophysique Interne et Tectonophysique, Materis Paints, GFC Chimica, Akzo Nobel Coatings, and PPG Europe.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technology and Society Lab (TSL), Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Roland Hischier, Bernd Nowack, Ingrid Hincapie & Claudia Som

  2. ETSS, 7558, Strada, Switzerland

    Fadri Gottschalk

  3. University of Bremen FB 4/FG 10 Technological Design and Development, Badgasteiner Strasse 1, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Michael Steinfeldt

Authors
  1. Roland Hischier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bernd Nowack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fadri Gottschalk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ingrid Hincapie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael Steinfeldt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Claudia Som
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roland Hischier.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 196 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hischier, R., Nowack, B., Gottschalk, F. et al. Life cycle assessment of façade coating systems containing manufactured nanomaterials. J Nanopart Res 17, 68 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-2881-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-2881-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation