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MarILCA characterization factors for microplastics, tire particles and cellulosic fibers in life cycle assessment: the PEBBLE method for regionalized physical impacts in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems
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Researchers developed a method called PEBBLE to estimate how microplastics, tire wear particles, and fiber particles move through air, soil, rivers, and oceans, and how they affect ecosystems. It calculates numerical scores for different plastic types, sizes, and shapes, designed for use in environmental assessments comparing plastics and their alternatives.
Worldwide, 10 to 40 million tons of microplastics (MPs) are emitted annually into the environment, redistributing across environmental compartments and affecting organisms. Current life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods partially account for their impacts on ecosystem quality by considering a limited number of compartments and particles. This study advances the work of the MarILCA group by introducing the PEBBLE method which integrates physical effects of MPs, tire and road wear particles (TRWPs), and cellulosic microfibers across environmental compartments into life cycle assessment (LCA). Characterization factors (CFs) are developed for 10 conventional polymers, 6 biodegradable polymers, 6 cellulosic materials, and TRWPs, for multiple shapes and sizes. Particle fate is modelled using the SimpleBox object-oriented (SBoo) model for microparticles, computing fate factors (FFs) in air, terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments at continental and global scales, following USEtox regionalization. SBoo was improved to account for size and shape effects, refined degradation data, regional marine currents, and biofouling. FFs are combined with exposure and effect factors in water, sediments, and terrestrial environments to obtain updated CFs. Uncertainty is quantified using Monte Carlo simulation, and time-horizon-dependent CFs are computed. Results are provided for different LCIA methods: for IMPACT World+ and ReCiPe, CFs representing regional species loss are derived, while for GLAM, the Global Extinction Probability is applied to derive CFs representing global species loss. The results support environmental decision-making for plastics and their alternatives, and aim to be the consolidated version of MarILCA CFs for microparticles, ready for implementation in LCA tools and methods.
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CIRAIG/marilca-cfs-mps: MarILCA Characterization Factors for Microplastics, Tire Particles and Cellulosic Fibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Regionalized impacts in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems v1.0.0
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Scientists have built a new toolkit that helps calculate how microplastics, tire dust, and synthetic fabric fibers harm ecosystems in oceans, rivers, and soil across different regions of the world. This matters because it gives researchers and companies a more precise way to measure the environmental damage of plastic pollution—information that could eventually guide better product designs and policies to reduce our exposure to these tiny pollutants. Note: this research focuses on environmental harm, not direct human health effects, but healthier ecosystems generally mean less microplastic contamination working its way into our food and water.
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Scientists have created a new scoring system that helps measure how much harm plastic pollution causes to ocean and freshwater life, factoring in things like plastic type, particle size, and shape. This matters because it gives companies and researchers a standardized way to compare the environmental impact of single-use plastics versus alternatives (like paper or reusable packaging), helping guide smarter choices about the products we use every day. While this study focuses on ecosystem harm rather than direct human health effects, understanding how microplastics accumulate and persist in waterways is a key step toward understanding potential risks to the food chain we're part of.
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CIRAIG/marilca-cfs-mps: MarILCA Characterization Factors for Microplastics, Tire Particles and Cellulosic Fibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Regionalized impacts in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems v1.0.0
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Scientists have developed a new scientific tool that measures how microplastics, tire dust, and synthetic clothing fibers actually harm ecosystems—like oceans, rivers, and soil—when they're released into the environment. This matters because it helps companies and researchers calculate the real environmental cost of products (from packaging to tires to clothes) throughout their entire life cycle, making it easier to compare which products cause less ecological damage. While this tool focuses on environmental harm rather than direct human health effects, healthier ecosystems generally mean cleaner water, soil, and food chains—all of which indirectly support human health.
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