The role of bioassays in the evaluation of ecotoxicological aspects within the PEF/OEF protocols: The case of WWTPs.
The suitability evaluation of any industrial process should rely on economic, technical, social and, in particular, environmental aspects. The Commission Recommendation 2013/179/UE enables the improvement and the harmonization of the conventional evaluation of environmental footprints, such as LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), Carbon and Water Footprint, by suggesting the assessment of life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations (PEF, OEF). Novelty aspects reside in including new impact categories (namely, human toxicity cancer effects, human toxicity not-cancer effects and eco-toxicity). This paper presents an application of PEF/OEF protocol to the example case of an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant. Strengths and criticisms of this approach are discussed, by taking into consideration the possible final goal of the suitability assessment. Valuably, the adoption of bioassays (i.e., the input of their results in the models for calculating the life cycle environmental performance) for a more reliable evaluation of the impact on the ecosystem and human health is proposed.
['Pedrazzani|Roberta|R|', 'Cavallotti|Irma|I|', 'Bollati|Edoardo|E|', 'Ferreri|Marta|M|', 'Bertanza|Giorgio|G|']
D001681:Biological Assay D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis D017753:Ecosystem D054750:Ecotoxicology D058735:Environmental Policy D005062:European Union D033161:Government Regulation D006801:Humans D008962:Models, Theoretical D012722:Sewage D018675:Toxicity Tests D062065:Waste Water D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical D018508:Water Purification
Bioassays Footprint Impact Human toxicity Eco-toxicity Freshwater