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(64-05) LCA and ERA comparison − A detergent case study within the OMNIITOX project. Pant, Rana*,1, Schowanek, Diederik2, 1 Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Ltd., Newcastle upon Tyne, UK2 Procter & Gamble, Eurocor, Strombeek-Bever, Belgium ABSTRACT- The research aims at improving environmental management tools for the assessment of (eco)toxicological impacts and is undertaken in the context of the EC sponsored OMNIITOX (Operational Models aNd Information tools for Industrial applications of eco/TOXicological impact assessments) project. Although Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) utilize considerable common data, they use the data in very different ways. In a case study on three types of detergents the tools LCA and ERA are compared, among others to define a domain of application of the two tools. The overlap between the ERA and the impact category aquatic ecotoxicity within Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) will be investigated to identify areas of potential synergism. The question will be discussed whether the two tools can be seen as complementary or competitive. Today, the accounting procedures within Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) make it impossible to assess actual environmental safety or risk issues by LCIA. This includes the relation of inventory results to a functional unit, the allocation procedures of emissions among multiple products and the system wide data aggregation over time and space. A number of problem oriented approaches will be discussed to deal with aspects of the functional unit, disaggregation of LCA, spatial refinement and mixture toxicity. Suggestions on how to perform a LCA taking into account the absolute mass of ingredients released into the environment by the laundry process will be made. The question how to deal with mixture toxicity remains a difficult topic for both LCA and ERA. This could be an area where ERA can learn from the approaches taken in LCA. For the detergent case study the working assumption of additivity of toxicity seems to be reasonable because major impacts are caused by surfactants for which a similar mode of action may be assumed. Key words: Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Risk Assessment, Detergents, Toxicity |
