Climate Change Human Health Research Articles

Water footprint assessment of mining and processing of gold in Turkey

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify critical points by calculating the water footprint (WF) of a mine and assessing the environmental impact of this water usage. Utilising the Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) methodology for critical points and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for environmental impact, results reveal that, among the identified hotspots, the highest blue water footprint is associated with the lost return flow, measuring 260.61 m3/kg Au. Regarding the grey water footprint, arsenic exhibits the highest value, measuring 1.777 m3/kg Au. Among the five impact categories, climate change human health emerges as the most environmentally affected category.

Life cycle assessment of multi-step versus one-step coating processes using oil or bio-based resins

Abstract Nowadays, before setting up an industrial process, special attention has to be paid to its environmental footprint. This new way of thinking allows evaluating the hotspots so as to propose solutions to conceive more eco-friendly processes. Thus, the coating industry is increasingly preoccupied by the environmental impacts of newly designed paints. That is why innovation tries to take into consideration both the formulation composition and the application and drying methods. Following a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, the present study aims to compare the environmental impacts of self-stratifying coatings (with three process steps), either oil-based or bio-based, to those of an oil-based multilayered coating (with six process steps). The concept of the self-stratifying coating is to bring the primer, the intermediate and the top coat properties together in a one-pot formulation to produce a multi-functional coating through a less laborious process. The total environmental impact of each process can be characterized by four main categories of impacts: Climate Change Human Health (CCHH), Human Toxicity (HT), Climate Change Ecosystem (CCE) and Fossil Depletion (FD), which together represent approximately 86% of the global impact for each system. The results obtained show that the self-stratifying oil-based coating process is more energy efficient compared to the currently used multilayered oil-based coating process, with a 15% decrease of CCHH, HT and CCE indicators and a 14% decrease of FD indicator, corresponding to a 13.6% decrease of the total environmental impact. However, as this decrease was lower than expected, particular attention was then paid to the chemicals used (resins, solvents) and to the process conditions. The substitution of the oil-based epoxy resin by a bio-based one and the use of less harmful solvents allow reducing the total environmental impact by 32.4% compared to the multilayered oil-based system (with 30% decrease of CCHH indicator, 50% of HT indicator, 31% of CCE indicator and 34% of FD indicator). In a global way, electricity consumption control and the nature of chemicals used were reported to contribute in a significant way to the improvement of the process environmental impact.

Life cycle assessment of cash payments in the Netherlands

This study quantifies the impact of the Dutch cash payment system on the environment and on climate change using a life cycle assessment (LCA). It examines both the impact of coins and of banknotes. In addition, it identifies areas within the cash payment system where the impact on the environment and on the climate can be reduced. The ReCiPe endpoint (H) impact method was used for this LCA. The cash payment system has been divided into five subsystems: the production of banknotes, the production of coins, the operation phase, the end of life of banknotes and the end of life of coins. Two functional units were used: (1) cumulative cash payments in the Netherlands in 2015 and (2) the average single cash payment in the Netherlands in 2015. Input data for all processes within each subsystem was collected through interviews and literature study. Ten key companies and authorities in the cash payment chain contributed data, i.e. the Dutch central bank, the Royal Dutch Mint, a commercial bank, a cash logistic service provider, two cash-in-transit companies, two printing works, an ATM manufacturer and a municipal waste incinerator. The environmental impact of the Dutch cash payment system in 2015 was 2.42 MPt (expressed in eco points) and its global warming potential (GWP) was 19 million kg CO2 equivalents (CO2e). For an average single cash transaction, the environmental impact was 654 μPt and the GWP was 5.1 g CO2e. The operation phase (e.g. energy use of ATMs, transport of banknotes and coins) (64%) and coin production phase (31%) had the largest impact on the environment, while the operation phase also had the largest impact on climate change human health (89%) and climate change ecosystems (56%). Finally, scenario analysis shows that reductions of the environmental impact (47%) and the impact on climate change (50%) could be achieved by implementing a number of measures, namely reducing the number of ATMs, stimulating the use of renewable energy in ATMs, introducing hybrid trucks for cash transport and matching coins with other countries in the euro area. This is the first study that investigates the environmental impact and GWP of the cash payment system in the Netherlands, by taking both the impact of banknotes and coins into account. The total environmental impact of cash payments in 2015 was 2.42 MPt and their GWP was 19 million kg CO2e.

Life cycle assessment of upgraded microalgae-to-biofuel chains

Two individual chains of microalgae-to-diesel and microalgae-to-butanol were upgraded through process integration and design. According to life cycle assessment (LCA) standards, the two proposed chains were compared in terms of 17 categories of LCA impacts and the sensitivity analysis of LCA impacts on two chains with different lipid or carbohydrate content of microalgae cells was performed. Based on the prescribed specifications and conditions for microalgae cultivation, pretreatment and purity level of the products, LCA analysis revealed that the annual ReCiPe end point score of producing 1 kg biobutanol is lower than that of 1 kg biodiesel by 54.4%. The upgraded microalgae-to-butanol chain could reduce the annual ReCiPe end point score of producing 100 MJ diesel/gasoline from crude oil by 5–10%. The microalgae-to-butanol chain is more ecofriendly than the microalgae-to-diesel chain due to lower LCA impacts such as Climate change human health, Climate change ecosystems, and Fossil depletion.

Evaluating the complex interactions between malaria and cholera prevalence, neglected tropical disease comorbidities, and community perception of health risks of climate change

ABSTRACTThe burgeoning literature on the climate change–human health nexus has focused almost exclusively on the health impacts of climate change with little attention to how ill-health and disease influence public perception of the health risks of climate change. Based on a cross-sectional survey of 1,253 individuals, linear regression was used to examine the independent effects of malaria and cholera prevalence, and neglected tropical disease comorbidities on perceived health risks of climate change. Individuals who reported more comorbidities had higher scores on perceived health risks of climate change compared with those who did not report any comorbidities. Unexpectedly, at the multivariate level, there were no statistically significant relationships between age of respondents, gender, and educational attainment on the one hand, and perceived health risks of climate change on the other hand. Individuals who were diagnosed with cholera in the past 12 months had higher scores on perceived health risks of climate change but there was no relationship between diagnosis with malaria in the past 12 months and perceived health risks. Individuals who had attained secondary education had lower scores on perceived health risks of climate change compared with those without any formal education. Given that this relationship did not exist at the bivariate level, it indicates that biosocial and sociocultural factors suppressed the relationship between secondary education attainment and perceived health risks of climate change. The findings underscore the complex relationship between perceived health risks of climate change and infectious disease, comorbidities, compositional, and contextual factors at the multivariate level.

Basic quantitative risk assessment of light sources: Comparison of light exposure assessment and endpoint life cycle impact assessment

ABSTRACTHuman Health Area of Protection (HHAoP) has been receiving greater emphasis in recent years in the scope of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of products or services with more impact categories specifically dedicated to include different dimensions of HHAoP. Human health impacts of light sources, however, have received less attention despite their prevalent use for backlighting, general lighting and architectural purposes. Currently, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) of lighting devices and electronic devices with backlit screens do not address endpoint impacts nor do they specify technical properties of the light that can enable such an assessment. This study investigates endpoint impacts of eleven lighting devices (1) due to light exposure during the use phase and (2) due to emissions throughout their life cycle. Impacts are quantified as disease burden in terms of disability adjusted life years (DALY). The burden of exposure was calculated using attributable fraction (AF) method. The burden due to life cycle emissions was quantified using GaBi software and built-in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method ReCiPe. Endpoint impact categories included were climate change human health, human toxicity, ionizing radiation, ozone depletion, particulate matter formation, and photochemical oxidant formation. The disease burden due to light exposure of all light sources is of two orders of magnitude greater than the disease burden due to life cycle emissions pointing to the need for its treatment.