Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
École Polytechnique de Montréal
$192,200.00
Development of metal's terrestrial ecotoxicological characterization factors within life cycle assessment
EF 2016-17
Résumé
Metals often appear as main contributors to ecotoxicological impacts in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) studies. However, these high impact scores are mainly obtained from unadapted models, often leading to an overestimation by several orders of magnitude. A consensus was reached in recent UNEP/SETAC workshops recognizing that LCIA models inadequately consider the impacts of metals given that they neglect their specific properties and behaviour and should therefore be enhanced in order to provide more meaningful ecotoxicity results. In particular, the importance of accounting for metal speciation and its spatial variability was highlighted, as metal fate and transport are highly influenced by local physicochemical and biological parameters, and as related impacts can vary by several orders of magnitude from site to site. The main goal of the project is to improve metal impact characterization within the globally regionalized LCIA method IMPACT World + accounting for spatial and temporal aspects. Specific objectives are to: 1) Improve atmospheric fate modelling in the determination of the fate factors from air to other environmental compartments; 2) Include metal speciation in the determination of fate factors from soil; 3) Generate new ecotoxicological terrestrial effect factors for metals accounting for metal speciation; 4) Determine how to deal with temporal aspects and propose a dynamic approach; 5) Propose a general framework to determine regionalized ecotoxicological characterization factors (CFs) and their uncertainty at different geographical resolution scales for zinc, copper and nickel for emissions to air and to soil and operationalize their use in case studies, and 6) Extend the general framework to other types of metals, generate additional metal CFs and incorporate them into the IMPACT World+ LCIA method. The improved impact assessment of metals will enhance the scientific relevance and the credibility of LCA and its acceptance by practitioners and decision makers.
Programme
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Bénéficiaire
Emplacement
Quebec, Canada
Type de bénéficiaire
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
Tel que publié
Application id
451916-2013
Name nom
Deschênes, Louise
Department département
Génie chimique
Organization id
64
Institution établissement
École Polytechnique de Montréal
Province en
Québec
Province fr
Québec
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2016
Competition year année de concours
2013
Award amount
192200
Program id
CRDPJ
Program name en
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Program name fr
Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
1002
Area of application group en
Northern development
Area of application group fr
Développement du nord
Area of application en
Environment
Area of application fr
Environnement
Research subject code
1500
Research subject group en
Environmental engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie de l'environnement
Research subject en
Environmental engineering
Research subject fr
Génie de l'environnement
Partie
3 & 4
Nb partie
4
Application title
Development of metal's terrestrial ecotoxicological characterization factors within life cycle assessment
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Metals often appear as main contributors to ecotoxicological impacts in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) studies. However, these high impact scores are mainly obtained from unadapted models, often leading to an overestimation by several orders of magnitude. A consensus was reached in recent UNEP/SETAC workshops recognizing that LCIA models inadequately consider the impacts of metals given that they neglect their specific properties and behaviour and should therefore be enhanced in order to provide more meaningful ecotoxicity results. In particular, the importance of accounting for metal speciation and its spatial variability was highlighted, as metal fate and transport are highly influenced by local physicochemical and biological parameters, and as related impacts can vary by several orders of magnitude from site to site. The main goal of the project is to improve metal impact characterization within the globally regionalized LCIA method IMPACT World + accounting for spatial and temporal aspects. Specific objectives are to: 1) Improve atmospheric fate modelling in the determination of the fate factors from air to other environmental compartments; 2) Include metal speciation in the determination of fate factors from soil; 3) Generate new ecotoxicological terrestrial effect factors for metals accounting for metal speciation; 4) Determine how to deal with temporal aspects and propose a dynamic approach; 5) Propose a general framework to determine regionalized ecotoxicological characterization factors (CFs) and their uncertainty at different geographical resolution scales for zinc, copper and nickel for emissions to air and to soil and operationalize their use in case studies, and 6) Extend the general framework to other types of metals, generate additional metal CFs and incorporate them into the IMPACT World+ LCIA method. The improved impact assessment of metals will enhance the scientific relevance and the credibility of LCA and its acceptance by practitioners and decision makers.
