Model of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Freshwater Eutrophication for Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Fate Factors (FFs) for use in life-cycle analysis (PCA) were developed for both dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), distinguishing emissions from soil and emissions to freshwater. The use of these FFs, in conjunction with a spatially explicit inventory of DIN and DIP emissions, improves the environmental relevance and discriminatory power of the assessment of freshwater eutrophication impacts for LCA applications internationally. Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods have previously estimated freshwater eutrophication impacts from phosphorus only. Eutrophication Product Footprinting research developed this method.