Abstract
Within the methodology of LCA, the impact assessment of the impact category ecotoxicity and the valuation step for all categories still pose methodological challenges. A multi-tier approach is a pragmatic solution for the impact assessment of the impact category ecotoxicity. The screening tier only makes use of information concerning substance specific characteristics in order to derive both an identification of critical substances and a comparison of products. Within the detailed tier, critical substances are analyzed in more detail, but still without site-specific information on concentrations, time or region.
Valuation combines scientific results with value judgements. Thus, it is not an objective process which can substitute decision making, but instead serves as a base for the interpretation of results. A pragmatic approach combines the results of the impact assessment with a normalization and weighting of the impact categories. Four approaches for deriving general weighting sets (population surveys, expert surveys using the delphi-technique, sustainable development, distance-to-target) are discussed and the first results obtained are presented.
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Abbreviations
- LCI:
-
Life Cycle Inventory
- ISO:
-
International Organization for Standardization
- DIN:
-
Deutsches Institut für Normung
- SETAC:
-
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
- Fh-IUCT:
-
Fraunhofer-Institut für Umweltchemie und Ökotoxikologie
- Fh-ISI:
-
Fraunhofer-Institut für Systemrechnik und Innovationsforschung
- OECD-TG:
-
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development -Test Guidelines
- BCF:
-
Bioconcentration Factor
- log Pow :
-
log octanol/Water Partition Coefficient
- LC50 :
-
lethal concentration for 50 % of the Investigated Organisms
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Walz, R., Herrchen, M., Keller, D. et al. Impact category ecotoxicity and valuation procedure. Int. J. LCA 1, 193–198 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978692
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978692