Aquatic and terrestrial eutrophication as regional impact categories

Abstract

The growing awareness of the importance of environmental protection and the potential impacts associated with products have increased interest in developing methods to understand and address them, such as, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). One of the risks arising from various economic activities - agriculture, livestock, industry, commerce, urbanization, others - is the eutrophication of water bodies and soil, and these categories are considered in all Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) models. However, aquatic (freshwater and marine) and terrestrial eutrophication is still unexplored in the field of LCA at the country level. The Doctoral Thesis plan aims to develop regional indicators of Eutrophication, deepening the study of soil and water degradation, under the methodology of LCA. So far, a comprehensive review of the literature and specific background at the national and international level on these regional impact categories has been conducted. It is observed that there are few research articles that analyze in an integrated way the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and that in Argentina studies on Eutrophication in regions with environmental significance are required, given the bioclimatic variability and the productive system, with sitedependent characterization factors (CFs). A systematic analysis of the studies resulting from the literature review is planned to identify research needs for the region and provide a solid basis for the continuity of the objectives set. Obtaining a set of indicators would contribute to Argentina's environmental sustainability, providing tools to minimize the impacts derived from the production and consumption of products and services