Comparative Analysis of Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methodologies for Toxicity: A Case Study of Soil Remediation Technology in China

Abstract

Toxic impacts arising from soil pollution pose considerable risks to the environment and to human health. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) distinguishes between ecotoxicity and human toxicity, based on the contamination medium. This study compared six LCIA methodologies for assessing toxicity and implemented them in evaluating soil contamination remediation, thus revealing differences in the methodological logic and characterization factors (CFs). The LCIA methodologies in soil remediation assessments highlighted significant effects from heavy metal and inorganic emissions. The ecotoxicity analysis, employing IMPACT 2002+, TRACI 2.1, and USEtox 2.12, found that emissions of heavy metals, particularly zinc, were notably influential. In terms of human toxicity, the carcinogenic effects were substantially higher than noncarcinogenic effects, with contributions from ReCiPe 2016 and TRACI 2.1 amounting to 99.734% and 99.517%, respectively. Varied results in toxicity assessments across different LCIA methodologies likely stem from disparities in model logic and CFs, limitations of LCIA models, and differences in toxicity categorization. This research strongly supports the further development and refinement of LCIA methodologies and the strategic choice of toxicity assessment methods across various industrial settings.