Bridging the gap between life cycle inventory and impact assessment for toxicological assessments of pesticides used in crop production.

In Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) provides emission data to the various environmental compartments and Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) determines the final distribution, fate and effects. Due to the overlap between the Technosphere (anthropogenic system) and Ecosphere (environment) in agricultural case studies, it is, however, complicated to establish what LCI needs to capture and where LCIA takes over. This paper aims to provide guidance and improvements of LCI/LCIA boundary definitions, in the dimensions of space and time. For this, a literature review was conducted to provide a clear overview of available methods and models for both LCI and LCIA regarding toxicological assessments of pesticides used in crop production. Guidelines are provided to overcome the gaps between LCI and LCIA modeling, and prevent the overlaps in their respective operational spheres. The proposed framework provides a starting point for LCA practitioners to gather the right data and use the proper models to include all relevant emission and exposure routes where possible. It is also able to predict a clear distinction between efficient and inefficient management practices (e.g. using different application rates, washing and rinsing management, etc.). By applying this framework for toxicological assessments of pesticides, LCI and LCIA can be directly linked, removing any overlaps or gaps in between the two distinct LCA steps.

[1]  Magnus Wang,et al.  A simple probabilistic estimation of spray drift—factors determining spray drift and development of a model , 2008, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[2]  Life Cycle Assessment of Palm Oil at United Plantations Berhad , 2014 .

[3]  G. Psacharopoulos.  Overview and methodology , 1991 .

[4]  C. Sinfort,et al.  Emission of pesticides to the air during sprayer application: A bibliographic review , 2005 .

[5]  M. Hauschild,et al.  PestLCI 2.0: a second generation model for estimating emissions of pesticides from arable land in LCA , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[6]  M. Hauschild,et al.  USEtox fate and ecotoxicity factors for comparative assessment of toxic emissions in life cycle analysis: sensitivity to key chemical properties , 2011 .

[7]  M. Hauschild,et al.  PestLCI—A model for estimating field emissions of pesticides in agricultural LCA , 2006 .

[8]  Melanie Kah,et al.  Prediction of the adsorption of ionizable pesticides in soils. , 2007, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[9]  T. Nemecek,et al.  Life Cycle Inventories of Agricultural Production Systems , 2007 .

[10]  E. Gnansounou,et al.  Life cycle assessment of soybean-based biodiesel in Argentina for export , 2009 .

[11]  How-Ran Guo,et al.  Comparative effects of the formulation of glyphosate-surfactant herbicides on hemodynamics in swine , 2009, Clinical toxicology.

[12]  Stefanie Hellweg,et al.  Life cycle impact assessment of pesticides , 2003 .

[13]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Multimedia fate and human intake modeling: spatial versus nonspatial insights for chemical emissions in Western Europe. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Harmonisation of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment for Agriculture , 1997 .

[15]  Marta Torrellas,et al.  LCA of a tomato crop in a multi-tunnel greenhouse in Almeria , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[16]  M. Hauschild,et al.  USEtox human exposure and toxicity factors for comparative assessment of toxic emissions in life cycle analysis: sensitivity to key chemical properties , 2011 .

[17]  Mark A J Huijbregts,et al.  Making fate and exposure models for freshwater ecotoxicity in life cycle assessment suitable for organic acids and bases. , 2013, Chemosphere.

[18]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Dynamic multicrop model to characterize impacts of pesticides in food. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[19]  Serge Guillaume,et al.  Influence of micrometeorological factors on pesticide loss to the air during vine spraying : Data analysis with statistical and fuzzy inference models , 2008 .

[20]  M. Huijbregts,et al.  USES-LCA 2.0—a global nested multi-media fate, exposure, and effects model , 2009 .

[21]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Plant uptake of pesticides and human health: dynamic modeling of residues in wheat and ingestion intake. , 2011, Chemosphere.

[22]  Lance A. Waller,et al.  Dietary Intake and Its Contribution to Longitudinal Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure in Urban/Suburban Children , 2008, Environmental health perspectives.

[23]  Mark A J Huijbregts,et al.  Transformation products in the life cycle impact assessment of chemicals. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[24]  P. Eder,et al.  Environmental Improvement Potentials of Meat and Dairy Products , 2008 .

[25]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Life cycle impact assessment of pesticides on human health and ecosystems , 2002 .

[26]  Reinout Heijungs,et al.  Identifying best existing practice for characterization modeling in life cycle impact assessment , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[27]  Mark A J Huijbregts,et al.  Including ecotoxic impacts on warm‐blooded predators in life cycle impact assessment , 2012, Integrated environmental assessment and management.

[28]  Enrique Barriuso,et al.  Fungicide volatilization measurements: inverse modeling, role of vapor pressure, and state of foliar residue. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[29]  Geert R. de Snoo,et al.  Buffer zones for reducing pesticide drift to ditches and risks to aquatic organisms. , 1998 .

[30]  M. Huijbregts,et al.  Priority assessment of toxic substances in life cycle assessment. Part I: calculation of toxicity potentials for 181 substances with the nested multi-media fate, exposure and effects model USES-LCA. , 2000, Chemosphere.

[31]  Aaldrik Tiktak,et al.  PEARL model for pesticide behaviour and emissions in soil-plant systems , 2001 .

[32]  J. Lammel,et al.  Environmental impact assessment of agricultural production systems using the life cycle assessment methodology: I. Theoretical concept of a LCA method tailored to crop production , 2004 .

[33]  Manuele Margni,et al.  Spatial variability of intake fractions for Canadian emission scenarios: a comparison between three resolution scales. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[34]  C. Basset-Mens,et al.  Scenario-based environmental assessment of farming systems: the case of pig production in France , 2005 .

[35]  W. Taylor,et al.  The potential environmental impact of pesticides removed from sprayers during cleaning. , 2007, Pest management science.

[36]  H. Vereecken,et al.  Pesticide volatilization from plants: improvement of the PEC model PELMO based on a boundary-layer concept. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[37]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Health impact and damage cost assessment of pesticides in Europe. , 2012, Environment international.

[38]  P. Spanoghe,et al.  Sorption and degradation of pesticides in biopurification systems , 2009 .

[39]  S. Hellweg,et al.  Life cycle human toxicity assessment of pesticides: comparing fruit and vegetable diets in Switzerland and the United States. , 2009, Chemosphere.

[40]  Mark A. J. Huijbregts,et al.  USEtox—the UNEP-SETAC toxicity model: recommended characterisation factors for human toxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity in life cycle impact assessment , 2008 .

[41]  N. Bénachour,et al.  Glyphosate formulations induce apoptosis and necrosis in human umbilical, embryonic, and placental cells. , 2009, Chemical research in toxicology.

[42]  R. Scholz,et al.  Management influence on environmental impacts in an apple production system on Swiss fruit farms: Combining life cycle assessment with statistical risk assessment , 2006 .