Grantee Research Project Results
2018 Progress Report: NCCLC: Network for Rapid Assessment of Chemical Life Cycle Impact
EPA Grant Number: R835579Title: NCCLC: Network for Rapid Assessment of Chemical Life Cycle Impact
Investigators: Suh, Sangwon , Keller, Arturo A. , Scott, Susannah , Seshadri, Ram , Doherty, Michael , Janowicz, Krzysztof
Current Investigators: Suh, Sangwon , Keller, Arturo A. , Scott, Susannah , Seshadri, Ram , Doherty, Michael
Institution: University of California - Santa Barbara
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: December 1, 2013 through November 30, 2017 (Extended to November 30, 2019)
Project Period Covered by this Report: December 1, 2017 through November 30,2018
Project Amount: $4,887,644
RFA: EPA/NSF Networks for Characterizing Chemical Life Cycle (NCCLCs) (2013) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Chemical Safety for Sustainability
Objective:
The Network for Rapid Assessment of Chemical Life Cycle Impact of UCSB, which is internally referred to as the Chemical Life Cycle Collaborative (CLiCC) is developing a framework to enable early assessment of the life cycle impacts of novel chemicals and materials. The framework can also be used to fill-in data gaps in the prediction of life cycle impacts for existing chemicals with large data gaps.
Progress Summary:
We are very pleased that the CLiCC Tool is now fully operational through The CLiCC Tool . Currently, there are 172 registered users. The team’s extensive fate and transport, life cycle inventory, and life cycle impact estimation modules have been embedded into the online tool. The tool allows multiple levels of analysis, for both the layperson and the advanced user to benefit from. The tool has been recently featured in an Amazon Web Service blog: Environmental Problem Solvers: University of California Santa Barbara Builds Machine Learning Tool to Measure Chemical Impact
Underlying the CLiCC tool are various interactive modules and the databases that support them. The CLiCC team has 1) developed a Predictive Life Cycle Impact Assessment Module to estimate the impact of chemicals across cumulative energy demand, aquatic eco-toxicity, eco-indicator, ozone layer depletion, acidification and water demand; 2) developed a Life Cycle Inventory Module that recursively models chemical manufacturing processes to estimate heat and energy requirement for synthesizing a chemical product. 3) Finalized the underlying Life Cycle Inventory database containing substantial amount of chemical manufacturing information; 4) conducted preliminary sensitivity analyses for the Life Cycle Inventory module 5) created a module that connects chemical functional uses and product applications together to generate realistic estimates of releases; 6) developed two fate and transport modules to predict the dynamic long-term fate of organic chemicals and nanomaterials in the natural environment; 7) validated the organic chemical fate and transport model against the Level III standard; 8) completed regional data, allowing users to make reports for specific locations, for 12 local regions and one global region; 8) completed three human exposure modules for outdoor exposure, indoor air exposure, and dermal exposure scenarios; 9) collected and integrated an extensive database of experimental toxicity data; 10) built internal capabilities for three QSAR property modeling tools; 11) developed a module that accommodates in a consistent way the different sources of uncertainty and allows a coherent uncertainty and sensitivity characterization across all Risk Assessment modules in CLiCC; 12) completed case studies for Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Ecolab, and Sherwin-Williams, incorporating Predictive Life Cycle Impact Assessment, Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Toxicity, Fate & Transport, and Exposure Assessment as integral components of the CLiCC Tool; Furthermore, we 13) continuously performed various outreach activities such as webinars introducing CLiCC, summer workshops for graduate students and professionals, stakeholder meetings and surveys, etc; 14) validated fate and transport module outputs with real-world emissions and measurements of pesticides in the environment; 15) optimized CLiCC modules for running on the backend of the online CLiCC Tool to minimize runtime for users; 16) Programmed an extensive Application Programming Interface (API) allowing CLiCC’s back-end modules to connect with the front-end of the online CLiCC Tool; 17) Contracted and collaborated with professional software engineers and web developers who have created and ensured the security of a beta version of the online CLiCC Tool; 18) Written detailed draft Technical User Guides for the Exposure and the Fate and Transport modules.
On November 8th, 2018, the CLiCC team held a public webinar introducing attendees to the CLiCC tool, how to use the tool, and the team behind the tool. There were 289 registrations logged for the webinar, and 158 attendees. Attendees represented a diverse group of industry and academic institutions, as well as federal, state, and global governments. After the webinar, a comprehensive FAQ document was distributed to attendees, addressing all of the questions posed by attendees during the webinar.
Future Activities:
First, we will monitor the use cases of the CLiCC tool and debug the tool as we identify issues along the way. Currently the data processing and storage at AWS server have not been fully optimized, and we will continue our effort to optimize them.
Second, we will compare and analyze the outputs of our modules to those from other similar models developed by other researchers. Eventually an outside expert/organization will be employed to evaluate the validity of out modules.
Third, we will continue to improve the CLiCC Tool by designing and performing a robust round of user testing that adheres to industry best practices. This feedback will be used to refine the usability and functionality of the CLiCC Tool. Tutorial content and videos will be developed to aid inexperienced users, and detailed guides for users will be refined to make the CLiCC Tool more transparent.
Fourth, we will promote the CLiCC Tool to the widest potential audience possible. We will continue to host training sessions with other organizations, distribute promotion materials at professional events, hold special sessions highlighting the CLiCC Tool at international conferences, etc.
Journal Articles on this Report : 15 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 34 publications | 24 publications in selected types | All 24 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Bergesen JD, Suh S. A framework for technological learning in the supply chain: a case study on CdTe photovoltaics. Applied Energy 2016;169:721-728. |
R835579 (2015) R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Cucurachi S, Suh S. A moonshot for sustainability assessment. Environmental Science & Technology 2015;49(16):9497-9498. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Cucurachi S, Suh S. Cause-effect analysis for sustainable development policy. Environmental Reviews 2017;25(3):358-379. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit |
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Fabin D. Quantifying the potential for lead pollution from halide perovskite photovoltaics. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2015;6(18):3546-3548. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Garner KL, Suh S, Lenihan HS, Keller AA. Species sensitivity distributions for engineered nanomaterials. Environmental Science & Technology 2015;49(9):5753-5759. |
R835579 (2015) R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Garner KL, Suh S, Keller AA. Assessing the risk of engineered nanomaterials in the environment: development and application of the nanoFate model. Environmental Science & Technology 2017;51(10):5541-5551. |
R835579 (2015) R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Ghadbeigi L, Harada JK, Lettiere BR, Sparks TD. Performance and resource considerations of Li-ion battery electrode materials. Energy & Environmental Science 2015;8(6):1640-1650. |
R835579 (2015) R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Katelhon A, Bardow A, Suh S. Stochastic technology choice model for Consequential Life Cycle Assessment. Environmental Science & Technology 2016;50(23):12575-12583. |
R835579 (2015) R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Katelhon A, von der Assen N, Suh S, Jung J, Bardow A. Industry-cost-curve approach for modeling the environmental impact of introducing new technologies in life cycle assessment. Environmental Science & Technology 2015;49(13):7543-7551. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Qin Y, Suh S. What distribution function do life cycle inventories follow? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2017;22(7):1138-1145. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit |
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Song R, Qin Y, Suh S, Keller AA. Dynamic model for the stocks and release flows of engineered nanomaterials. Environmental Science & Technology 2017;51(21):12424-12433. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) R835800 (Final) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Song R, Keller AA, Suh S. Rapid life-cycle impact screening using artificial neural networks. Environmental Science & Technology 2017;51(18):10777-10785. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Suh S, Qin Y. Pre-calculated LCIs with uncertainties revisited. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2017;22(5):827-831. |
R835579 (2015) R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit |
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Tsang MP, Li D, Garner KL, Keller AA, Suh S, Sonnemann GW. Modeling human health characterization factors for indoor nanomaterial emissions in life cycle assessment: a case-study of titanium dioxide. Environmental Science: Nano 2017;4(8):1705-1721. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit |
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Yang Y, Suh S. Changes in environmental impacts of major crops in the US. Environmental Research Letters 2015;10(9):094016. |
R835579 (2016) R835579 (2017) R835579 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
Relevant Websites:
The CLiCC Tool is now live in beta. Exit
We have built a website to showcase our progress and achievements Exit .
Finding a Chemical with CLiCC Exit
Estimating Chemical Life Cycle Inventories with CLiCC Exit
Estimating Chemical Life Cycle Impacts with CLiCC Exit
Chemical Risk Assessment with CLiCC Exit
Screening Level Chemical Scorecard from CLiCC Exit
Chemical Properties Reports from CLiCC Exit
Introduction to CLiCC -- Full Webinar Exit
Introduction to CLiCC (1/3 Webinar Series) Exit
Remarks from CLiCC Partners (2/3 Webinar Series) Exit
Supporting CLiCC (3/3 Webinar Series) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
- Final Report
- 2017 Progress Report
- 2016 Progress Report
- 2015 Progress Report
- 2014 Progress Report
- Original Abstract
24 journal articles for this project