A Global Consensus Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method (GLAM): impacts on human health

Purpose : Millions of humans worldwide die prematurely or live with reduced quality of life, partly attributable to pollutant emissions along product, service and technology life cycles, including greenhouse gas emissions, and exposure to air pollutants and toxic chemicals. However, while many of these factors are considered in currently available life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods, other aspects affecting human health as a central area of protection in LCIA are currently incomplete or missing. This includes impacts in occupational environments and nutrition-related impacts.

Methods : The Global Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method (GLAM) was developed as a comprehensive and consensus-driven LCIA method, with methodological documentation and guidance on GLAM human health impact categories provided in the present study. For human health, GLAM proposes indicators for climate change, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) impacts, human toxicity and ionizing radiation that are also available in other LCIA methods as well as for work environment impacts, water scarcity impacts, and lifestyle impacts related to nutrition and physical activity as novel impact categories.

Results : Beyond the introduction of new impact categories, GLAM provides innovation related to differentiating short- and long-term climate change impacts, exposure to indoor and spatialized outdoor PM2.5 sources, coupling exposure from chemical life cycle emissions and chemicals in products and introducing reproductive/developmental effects for human toxicity, and building on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study series for the exposure-response and severity assessment across most considered impact categories. GLAM version 1 was released publicly end of 2024.

Conclusions : While GLAM impact characterization factors can be used in life cycle assessment and environmental footprinting, they still require extensive testing in practical studies. GLAM ultimately contributes to achieving health-related targets set in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as in the Global Framework on Chemicals.