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
Abstract
A C T 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
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BibTeX
@article{saadi2026marilca,
title = {{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}},
author = {Nadim Saadi and Carla Hajjar and Louisa Ospital and Joris T.K. Quik and Elena Corella-Puertas and Anne R Hids and Marion Lebrun and Juliette Louvet and Yibo Tang and Nils Thonemann and Anne-Marie Boulay},
journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.resconrec.2026.109193},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05820609v1},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - 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
AU - Nadim Saadi
AU - Carla Hajjar
AU - Louisa Ospital
AU - Joris T.K. Quik
AU - Elena Corella-Puertas
AU - Anne R Hids
AU - Marion Lebrun
AU - Juliette Louvet
AU - Yibo Tang
AU - Nils Thonemann
AU - Anne-Marie Boulay
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Resources, Conservation and Recycling
DO - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2026.109193
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05820609v1
AB - A C T 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
SN - 0921-3449
ER -