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Integrating exposure to chemicals in building materials during use stage
Citation:
Huang, L., N. Anastas, P. Egeghy, D. Vallero, O. Jolliet, AND J. Bare. Integrating exposure to chemicals in building materials during use stage. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT. Ecomed Verlagsgesellschaft AG, Landsberg, Germany, 24(6):1009-1026, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1551-8
Impact/Purpose:
The characterization of chemical exposures from the use phase of building materials is currently in the earliest stages. While connections have been made between many chemical exposures and building materials and the accompanying human health impacts, currently there do not exist scientifically defensible ways to characterize the near-field emissions in a consistent manner for the entire field of building materials. Green building standards often attempt to support healthier environments indoors by banning some chemicals in certain products, but many times these decisions are made based on a consensus process and do not reflect measured or modeled exposures. The present paper thus intends to provide a roadmap which summarizes the current status and guides the future development of integrating the use-phase emissions and impacts of building materials into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) characterization. After reviewing the current knowledge and available data sources for building materials, we propose a systematic approach to integrate the use phase impacts of building materials into LCA, and present an example using this approach to characterize the use phase impacts from one Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and one semi-VOC (SVOC) in particleboard products. Results reveal that inhalation exposure dominates for the VOC, while dermal contact and dermal gaseous exposures dominate for the SVOC. Exposure duration affects the total intake and daily intake doses in different ways for VOC and SVOC. Data and modeling gaps which currently prohibit the application of the proposed systematic approach are discussed, including the need for chemical composition data, near-field exposure models and pre-calculated Product intake Fraction (PiF), and toxicity data. Finally, future directions for integrating the use phase impacts of building materials into decision making are discussed.
Description:
Purpose There do not currently exist scientifically defensible ways to consistently characterize the human exposures (via various pathways) to near-field chemical emissions and associated health impacts during the use stage of building materials. The present paper thus intends to provide a roadmap which summarizes the current status and guides future development for integrating into LCA the chemical exposures and health impacts on various users of building materials, with a focus on building occupants. Methods We first review potential human health impacts associated with the substances in building materials and the methods used to mitigate these impacts, also identifying several of the most important online data resources. A brief overview of the necessary steps for characterizing use stage chemical exposures and health impacts for building materials is then provided. Finally, we propose a systematic approach to integrate the use stage exposures and health impacts into building material LCA and describe its components, and then present a case study illustrating the application of the proposed approach to two representative chemicals: formaldehyde and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in particleboard products. Results and discussion Our proposed approach builds on the coupled near-field and far-field framework proposed by Fantke et al. (Environ Int 94:508–518, 2016), which is based on the product intake fraction (PiF) metric proposed by Jolliet et al. (Environ Sci Technol 49:8924–8931, 2015), The proposed approach consists of three major components: characterization of product usage and chemical content, human exposures, and toxicity, for which available methods and data sources are reviewed and research gaps are identified. The case study illustrates the difference in dominant exposure pathways between formaldehyde and MDI and also highlights the impact of timing and use duration (e.g., the initial 50 days of the use stage vs. the remaining 15 years) on the exposures and health impacts for the building occupants. Conclusions The proposed approach thus provides the methodological basis for integrating into LCA the human health impacts associated with chemical exposures during the use stage of building materials. Data and modeling gaps which currently prohibit the application of the proposed systematic approach are discussed, including the need for chemical composition data, exposure models, and toxicity data. Research areas that are not currently focused on are also discussed, such as worker exposures and complex materials. Finally, future directions for integrating the use stage impacts of building materials into decision making in a tiered approach are discussed.
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DOI: Integrating exposure to chemicals in building materials during use stage
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