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.