Framework developed for including PFAS in LCA
Scientists in Sweden and Denmark have developed a framework specifically for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has produced generally applicable standards for LCA, in particular ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
However, in a paper published in Environmental Science & Technology, scientists led by Hanna Holmquist at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden say that PFASs present distinct problems for LCA analysts.
LCIA – one of the four stages of lifecycle assessment (LCA), does not normally include consideration of the compounds into which the target chemical transforms following emission into the environment.
However, according to the group, consideration of such transformation products is “essential” for LCA of PFASs owing to the high environmental persistence and the accumulation in the environment that results.
Therefore, the aims of their work were:
- “to define the link between reported emissions of PFASs and one or more related degradation products considered terminal“;
- “to characterise these terminal degradation products in terms of (eco)toxicity impacts”; and
- “to apply the proposed framework in an illustrative case study of PFASs in textiles”.
Thus, the PFAS-specific LCIA framework is intended to be a practical solution.
Read more here.