Page 245 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

10 Life Cycle Impact Assessment 231

Emissions to
air, water and
soil

Environmental fate
(transformation and distribution between environmental
compartments)

Ecotoxic effects
Individual Trophic level, Ecosystem
species e.g. level
Algae
Individual Multiple
species Crustacean species &
1,2,...n ecosystem
Fish

Damage to Damage to Damage to
marine freshwater terrestrial
ecosystems ecosystems ecosystems

Fig. 10.17 General scheme of the Impact pathway for ecotoxicity [adapted from EC-JRC (2011)]

ecotoxicity, and thus its characterisation factor, is described in the following sec-
tions. Some LCIA methods also directly combine EF eco and SF eco into a single
damage factor, directly calculating an endpoint characterisation factor. For midpoint
characterisation, SF eco is simply omitted and CF eco is then the midpoint ecotoxicity
characterisation factor.
A method for toxic impact assessment of chemicals in the framework of LCA
must be able to cover the very large number of potentially toxic substances in the
inventory in terms of available characterisation factors. It must also be based on
integration of the impact over time and space as LCI data are typically not spatially
and/or temporally differentiated, and the characterisation factor must relate to a
mass flow and not require any information about concentrations of the substance as
this information is not available in the LCI. To be compatible with the effect model,
the fate model must translate chemical emissions calculated in the life cycle
inventory into an increase in concentration in the relevant medium. In the