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- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Palm Oil
- 2011
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In: Palm Oil: Nutrition, Uses and Impacts. - : Nova Science Publishers, Inc.. - 9781612099217 ; , s. 159-186
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Palm oil is used for cooking in Southeast Asia and Africa and as a food additive in a number of processed foods world-wide. The production of palm oil is increasing, and it is of special interest from a nutritional point of view due to its high energy content and its significant content of micronutrients. In addition, palm oil is increasingly used to produce various biofuels. Due to large production volumes and diverse applications of palm oil, it is highly interesting and important to study the environmental impacts of its production. This chapter discusses how the environmental impacts of palm oil can be assessed, focusing on the life cycle environmental impacts of palm oil in comparison to similar products. A brief overview of life cycle assessment as a method is given, and results are presented together with suggestions for environmental improvements of palm oil cultivation and production. It is shown that the magnitude of the environmental impacts connected to palm oil in relation to other products is heavily affected by the choice of environmental indicators, which in LCA studies consist of both an environmental impact category and a so-called functional unit. Regarding impact categories, the global warming and acidification potentials of palm oil are lower than those of rapeseed oil per kg oil. The water footprint of palm oil and rapeseed oil are about the same on a mass basis, but for the two land use indicators soil erosion and heavy metal accumulation, rapeseed oil has a lower impact than palm oil. Specific interest is given to the life cycle energy use of palm oil in response to the unclear and diverse definitions of this impact category in different studies. It is concluded that there is a need to carefully define the energy use impact category when reporting on palm oil or similar products, and also to differentiate between different kinds of energy sources. If instead of mass the micronutrient content is applied as functional unit, palm oil still has lower global warming potential and acidification than rapeseed oil when compared on the basis of vitamin E content. However, if β-carotene content is used as functional unit, rapeseed oil is not relevant for comparison due to its negligible content of β-carotene. For that case, palm oil is therefore instead compared to tomatoes on a β-carotene basis, since tomatoes are rich in β-carotene. The tomatoes were shown to perform better then palm oil regarding global warming potential on a β-carotene basis. The effects of time and scale on the environmental impacts of palm oil, which includes changes in technical performance and electricity sources, are also discussed in this chapter. It is shown that combustion of the methane formed from the palm oil mill effluent can significantly reduce the global warming potential.
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- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Blood cobalt? Life cycle human health impacts of a lithium-ion battery
- 2022
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Lithium-ion batteries have become the dominating technology for rechargeable batteries. However, they are associated with several social sustainability concerns. In particular, these concerns have been expressed for lithium-ion batteries that contain cobalt in the cathode, such as nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries. Cobalt has been on the European Union’s list of critical raw materials since its first appearance in 2011. While not counted among the conflict minerals, the extraction and refining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounts for 70% of the global supply. Reports from this extraction include harsh working conditions, high presence of child laborers and forced evictions, particularly for the 20% share of the extraction conducted at small scale. In this work, the life-cycle health impacts of an NMC battery are quantified using the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) indicator. Health impacts from emissions are included, as well as health impacts from occupational accidents during small-scale cobalt extraction in the DRC and other processes. Two scenarios for occupational fatalities in small-scale cobalt extraction in the DRC were tested: one expert estimate at 2000 fatalities/years and one at only 65 fatalities/year based on reports in media. The results show that given 2000 fatalities/year, cobalt extraction and refining account for 18% of the total health impacts. However, the nickel in the cathode accounts for 30% and the copper used as a current collector for the anode accounts for 20%. Consequently, the results from this study show that while cobalt contributes notably to the health impacts of an NMC battery, nickel and copper are also important to consider for reducing health impacts. The main recommendations are to reduce emissions from nickel and copper extraction, to increase the share of recycled metals in lithium-ion batteries and to improve the occupational safety in small-scale cobalt extraction in the DRC.
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- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Can carbon nanomaterials help avoiding resource scarcity?
- 2015
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In: International Society of Industrial Ecology’s biennial conference, 7-10 July 2015, University of Surry, England.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The pressure on resource extraction is increasing due to a continued growth of world population and affluence. In particular, scarcity may become a pressing problem for several metals in the coming decades (Ljunggren Söderman et al. 2014). Carbon nanomaterials, such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene and nanocellulose, have been suggested as a potential remedy for this. They have gained high interest in recent years, owing to their unique properties, which potentially could make them viable substitutes for a range of scarce and critical metals. However, carbon nanomaterials also require raw materials in order to be produced. Having carbon as main constituent, carbon nanomaterials require carbon feedstock of either renewable or fossil origin. Although carbon is an abundant element, not all chemical forms of carbon can be used directly for carbon nanomaterial production. The first aim of this study is to list potential raw materials for the carbon nanomaterials fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene and nanocellulose. Second, raw material reserves available for future potential production rates of carbon nanomaterials are assessed. This analysis is done using prospective material flow analysis (MFA), which is a forward-looking type of MFA in contrast to the more traditional MFA that typically considers current material flows. Third, we outline which scarce materials that may be replaced by carbon nanomaterials in these applications. With this method, resource benefits from substitution and resource constraints of carbon nanomaterials can be assessed, both in the short and long term. Preliminary results show that the carbon nanomaterials investigated have the potential to replace a number of scarce materials. For example, graphene could replace indium and tin in transparent screens (Segal 2009). There may also be short term resource constraints for carbon nanomaterials. For example, graphene is currently suggested to be produced from graphite for some applications, and graphite has been listed as a critical material. We also discuss risks of competition over carbon feedstock (fossil and biomass) between current uses of carbon feedstock (e.g. plastics and wood) and carbon nanomaterials.
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- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984
(author)
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Contributions to Emission, Exposure and Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In recent years, synthetic nanomaterials have begun to be produced and used in increasingly larger volumes. These materials may cause new or increased risks to the environment, but no harmonized methods for structured assessment of their environmental risks exist. The main aim of this thesis is to contribute to the development of emission and exposure assessment methods, and thus also risk assessment methods, for nanomaterials. The second aim is to apply developed methods to specific nanomaterials. The nanomaterials assessed were titanium dioxide nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles, and graphene. Starting from the two methods of risk assessment of chemicals and substance flow analysis, three different methods were outlined. The first method is called particle flow analysis, and can be used to assess current and future potential particle number-based emissions of nanoparticles. The second method is an exposure model for nanoparticles based on colloidal stability. This method can be used to derive particle number-based predicted environmental concentrations of nanoparticles. The third method is exposure modeling of nanomaterials based on partitioning factors, a method that can be used to derive mass-based predicted environmental concentrations. By applying the particle flow analysis method, it was shown that antibacterial clothing is a large source of particle number-based emissions of silver nanoparticles, and could become an even larger source. Applying the same method to titanium dioxide nanoparticles showed that both the currently highest, and potentially also the future highest, particle number-based emissions come from sunscreen. By applying the exposure method based on partitioning factors, it was shown that if the silver content of antibacterial clothing is as high as some measurements have indicated, there is considerable risk of high silver levels in wastewater treatment sludge and in agricultural land if the sludge is applied as fertilizer. A review of risk-related properties of graphene showed that the risk-related data is very scarce, but what is available gives reason for concern in relation to high potential emissions, high persistence, hydrophobicity, and considerable toxicity. The developed methods, case study results, and some reflections and suggestions for future research together constitute contributions to emission assessment, exposure assessment, and risk assessment of nanomaterials.
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- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Environmental Impact of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles – Applying Life Cycle Thinking and Risk Assessment for Swedish Conditions
- 2008
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In: 3rd International Conference on the Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials, Birmingham University, Birmingham, UK, September 15-16, 2008.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The risks of nanoparticles have been issued by several different groups, e.g. The Royal Society (2004) and Friends of the Earth (2006), and the concept nanotoxicology has been introduced to underline the distinctive toxicological features of nanoparticles (Oberdörster et al. 2005). Some nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes, have been outlined as hazardous and great caution has been suggested before introducing carbon nanotubes into the market (Poland et al. 2008). According to a risk assessment performed by Mueller and Nowack (2007), titanium dioxide nanoparticles had higher predicted environmental concentration compared with the predicted no effect concentration than both silver nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes, and further detailed studies regarding titanium dioxide nanoparticles were suggested. However, no sensitivity analysis was performed in Mueller and Nowack (2007), and a crude model was used to model environmental faith of the titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Our study applied substance flow analysis in order to facilitate a comprehensive environmental risk assessment of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (see e.g. Tsunemi and Wada (2008) and Fuster et al. (2002)). A detailed investigation of the production of titanium dioxide nanoparticles and their application in society was performed facilitating hazard identification according to Hansen et al. (2007). Emissions were calculated based on use assumptions and a modelling of the environmental faith of the titanium dioxide nanoparticles was attempted including the particle aggregation and interaction with natural organic substances that modify bioavailability. Predicted environmental concentrations were calculated and compared with predicted no effect concentrations according to several ecotoxicological studies and in order to assess the uncertainty a sensitivity analysis was performed for input parameters.
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- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Exposure assessments of nanoparticles in aquatic environments – considerations, review and recommendations
- 2013
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Synthetic nanoparticles are new forms of chemical substances. They can be found in several different forms, such as free particles, surface bound and dissolved in liquid. Nanoparticles can also exist as free, individual particles or agglomerate consisting of multiple particles. This report discusses the assessment of possible risks of nanoparticles. Chemical risk is usually considered to consist of two elements: (1) Exposure to the substance, and (2) the substance's toxicity. So far, the risk-related research on nanoparticles has had a strong focus on the particles ' toxic effects. In this report, we would instead focus on how exposure to nanoparticles can be calculated and assessed, with focus on nanoparticles in water. In the report, we provide an initial background and definitions of nanomaterials and nanoparticles, and describe briefly a standard method of risk assessment of chemicals in the environment. Then we go through important considerations that should be made in the exposure assessment of nanoparticles. First we discuss three considerations related to the emissions of nanoparticles, namely the lack of data for annual production of nanoparticles, the importance of applying a substance flow perspective, and lack of data for so-called emission factors for nanoparticles of various products and materials. Furthermore, we discuss considerations for modeling of nanoparticles behavior in water, mainly by listing a number of key processes with large influence. These are agglomeration, sedimentation, and dissolution. Related to that, we discuss how natural organic materials, coatings and aging of particles can affect these processes. We note here three particle properties that are important in order to describe nanoparticles dispersion in water, in a similar way that the octanol-water partition coefficient and half-life is important to describe the fate of organic chemicals in the environment. For nanoparticles these are the particle size (a) and the density (ρ). We also identify a number of more complex parameters affecting particle behavior in the environment, but not only because of the different particle characteristics, but also depending on characteristics related to the environment. These are the collision efficiency (α), point of zero charge (pHpzc), Hamaker constant (A) and a so-called form factor (β) that affect the sedimentation. In addition to the general difficulty to measure or calculate these parameters they also co-vary. Furthermore, we make a review of 11 currently available exposure models for nanoparticles in aquatic environment. We note that the studies differ regarding modeling method, which sources of emissions that are included, the nanoparticles taken into account, estimated concentrations in the environment, and whether the results are presented as mass or particle concentration. Only two studies trying to model the nanoparticle exposure based on particle properties in a manner similar to standard methods for chemical risk assessment. The other modeling studies are instead based on data on flows of specific nanomaterials, and not on generic algorithms. Next, we describe a number of challenges that occur when measuring nanoparticles in the environment. Finally, we provide the following recommendations to ensure good exposure assessment of nanoparticles in the future: 1. Information of flows and stocks of nanoparticles in society need to be collected. 2. Emission factors would need to be developed for each product that makes use of nanoparticles. 3. Emissions should be reported both as mass and particle number until it becomes clearer which one is most relevant. 4. More research is needed in order to determine which particle properties need to be known in order to calculate the concentration of nanoparticles in the environment. 5. At least the particle size and particle size distribution, as well as the specific particle density should be reported. 6. More research is required to improve the experimental measurements of nanoparticles to be able to validate exposure models.
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