European characterization factors for human health damage of PM10 and ozone in life cycle impact assessment

This paper presents characterization factors (CFs) for human health effects of fine particulate (PM10) and ozone in Europe for the purpose of life cycle impact assessment. The CFs express the change in disability adjusted life years (DALYs) of European inhabitants due to a change in emissions of PM10, ammonia (NH3), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs). The CF consists of an intake factor, an effect factor, and a damage factor. The intake factor was modeled as the change in population exposure to primary and secondary aerosols, and ozone due to a change in emission of a substance. This was done with the models EUTREND (aerosols) and LOTOS–EUROS (ozone). A combined human effect and damage factor, represented by the change in DALY due to a change in population intake was derived from epidemiological-based relative risks of short-term mortality, long-term mortality, and morbidity. Primary PM10 causes 260 DALYs per kton emission, while secondary aerosol formation results in CFs between 51 and 83 DALYs per kton of precursor emitted. Applying CFs for high and low stack sources separately for PM10 and SO2 life cycle emissions can lead to a better estimation of human health damage due to these pollutants. CF related to ozone formation emissions appear to be much lower (0.04 DALY per kton, calculated based on maximum daily 8-h average ozone concentration) compared to the CF for primary and secondary PM10. When calculating CF based on 24-h average ozone concentration, NMVOC causes 0.04 DALYs per kton, while the CF for NOx causing ozone formation is negative due to reactivity of ozone with NO in areas with high NOx levels (−0.12 DALYs per kton). Total European emissions of the five priority air pollutants in year 2000 are attributed to 4.2 million DALYs for the European population, which corresponds on average to 0.25 DALYs per person over a lifetime (80 years).