PARENT SESSION
2D LCA and comparative risk assessment
9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Wednesday, 09 May 2001

(W/MC271) Determination of toxicity potentials for usage in the eco-efficiency analysis of BASF.

Saling, Peter¹, Landsiedel, Robert¹, Kicherer, Andreas¹, Dittrich-Kraemer, Brigitte¹, Wittlinger, Rolf¹, Zombik, Winfried¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- To an increasing extent, the environmental aspects of economic activity are being ranked alongside the financial issues. It is against this background that BASF has developed the tool of eco-efficiency analysis to address not only strategic issues but also issues posed by the marketplace, politics and research. It is based on assessing environmental behavior, environmental impact, possible effects on human health and ecosystems and the costs of products and processes from the cradle to the grave. The goal of eco-efficiency analysis by BASF is to quantify the sustainability of products and processes. Many life cycle analyses do not conduct an assessment of this toxicity potential. But, to arrive at a comprehensive assessment of products and processes, it is specifically this criterion which constitutes an important factor with regard to the evaluation of sustainability. The toxicity potential is calculated using the classifications for hazardous materials under EU law. The relevant data are readily and quickly retrievable, and the classification method is recognized and widely used. Exposure data are frequently missing, inaccurate or incomplete. For this reason, we deliberately calculate the maximum possible hazard instead of an actually existing risk. But since here all cases are compared on the basis of potential hazards, the basis on which they are compared is again fair. An actually increased health risk is possible only after exposure, usually as a consequence of improper handling. In the individual cases it is possible to use and compare risk assessment data and so make a bridge to risk valuation. To determine toxicity potential, eco-efficiency analysis utilizes the classification and labeling guidelines of the German Chemicals Act. Own toxicological assessments are carried out by appropriate experts only when there are data but no legal classification for the substances in question. In some examples it will be shown, how this evaluation system works and how the results can be used for the comparison of different systems in the ceoefficiency analysis of BASF.

Key words: Eco-efficiency analysis, toxic potentials, lifecycle toxicology