How suitable is LCA for nanotechnology assessment? Overview of current methodological pitfalls and potential solutions: 65th LCA Discussion Forum, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, May 24, 2017

Excerpt

The 65th Life Cycle Assessment Discussion Forum was held on May 24, 2017, to discuss the state of research and application with regard to nanotechnology. This conference report presents the highlights of the forum. While all presenters agreed on the relevance of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment (RA) methods to offer valuable environmental sustainability assessment of manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs), a recurring theme during the forum was the continued lack of environmental data on the manufacturing, release and impacts of such MNMs. Different strategies and research pathways were proposed to tackle this dearth of representative data. The first session provided an overview of the current state-of-the-art in environmental assessment of MNMs from the perspective of regulation, industry and research. The main concern for all these stakeholders is to offer representative environmental assessment and avoid risks in a sector that is rapidly developing. System modellers then proposed, in the second session, different strategies to consider the current lack of knowledge (e.g. uncertainty and potential evolution) in representation of MNMs production pathways. Prospective modelling, global sensitivity analysis and dynamic probabilistic methods were all shown to be relevant tools to deal with the scarce information. Presenters from the third session subsequently discussed the requirements of evaluating potential impacts (i.e. toxicity) of MNMs if they are released into the environment. Techniques for the characterisation of their effects were introduced, but the consideration of nano-specificities and a clear focus on a limited amount of MNMs were identified as major research challenges that still need attention. The final session then offered a review of how the RA method can be used to complement LCA studies and quantify adverse environmental and human health effects due to exposure at specific sites. …