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one chapter to another, the combined application of life-cycle assessment and risk
assessment casts new light on the controversy of waste incineration with regard to
human health effects.
Some specialized knowledge in environmental engineering or science is neces-
sary to best understand the book in its entirety. Mathematical parts of the book are
expressed by clearly explained equations. Figures systematically illustrate the con-
tent. Tables provide basic data and exemplary results of the case study and the
exercises.
Apart from being a reference book for graduate and postgraduate students in
the field of environmental management, the book intends to catalyze communication
between life-cycle assessment experts and risk assessment scientists from academia,
consultancies, industry and governmental agencies. In this way, the book is a manual
for analyzing situations that are relevant for decision-making. The reader profits
directly from the practical format of the book including flowcharts, examples, exer-
cises and concrete applications, making the book a useful guide and facilitating the
understanding of the content.
The Plan of Implementation agreed upon at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg, 2002 calls for the development of production and
consumption policies to improve the environmental performance of products and
services provided, using, where appropriate, science-based approaches; and with
regard to chemicals management, a life-cycle perspective is asked for. Life-cycle
assessment and risk assessment are both analytical systems approaches that allow
science-based knowledge creation according to the current state of understanding
of environmental mechanisms. This book can be considered as one of the first
attempts to illustrate the existing interfaces between life-cycle assessment and risk
assessment and to indicate options for the further integration of both tools.
In the introductory chapters, this book compiles the findings of many distin-
guished researchers in the fields of life-cycle assessment and risk assessment. Many
findings on the basics of these tools have been integrated in recent publications from
recognized international and national organizations; these include the International
Organization for Standardization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the
European Commission, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Finally, the authors would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who
has contributed to this book both directly and indirectly, in particular, the researchers
in the field of life-cycle assessment and risk assessment who have supported our
work through numerous information exchanges and who are not specifically men-
tioned in the acknowledgments.

Guido W. Sonnemann
Marta Schuhmacher
Francesc Castells

© 2004 CRC Press LLC