Prior Projects

About this project

We aim to estimate global health impacts of trade by linking three actors: the producers of goods, the consumers of the goods, and the population impacted by the pollution (producers, consumers or a third party). Exchanges through trade (embodied pollution content) and multi-media pollutant transfer are considered on a global scale.

People

Olivier Jolliet

Damien Friot

Shanna Shaked

Project summary

Health impacts of trade: integration of Life Cycle Impact Assessment and global Input-Output models

1. Shanna Shaked
2. Damien Friot
3. Julia Steinberger
4. Sebastien Humbert
5. Manuele Margni
6. Stefan Schwarzer
7. Cedric Wannaz
8. Olivier Jolliet
9. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
10. University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
11. Institute for Social Ecology, Vienna, Austria
12. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
13. CIRAIG, Montreal, QC, Canada.
14. United Nations Environmental Program, Geneva, Switzerland.

Email contact: shaked@umich.edu

1. Introduction and objectives
2. Globalization and the resulting increase in global trade can result in significant health impacts that are unequally distributed between producing and consuming nations (Tisdell, 2001; Peters & Hertwich, 2006). This occurs because pollutants affect human health both at the local point of emission and globally through long-range transport. In this project, we estimate the emissions associated with global trade and estimate the resulting globally-distributed health impacts. We aim to estimate global health impacts of trade by linking three actors: the producers of goods, the consumers of the goods, and the population impacted by the pollution (producers, consumers or a third party). Exchanges through trade (embodied pollution content) and multi-media pollutant transfer are considered on a global scale.
3. Methods: Integration of economic and pollutant transport models
4. To estimate the impacts due to pollution resulting from global trade, we need the following pieces of information: (i) pollutant emissions associated with a given region's consumption, (ii) global transport of the pollutant, (iii) human intake through ingestion and inhalation, and (iv) the impact of the ingested and inhaled pollution. The emissions are computed by incorporating life cycle assessment into a global economic model. The health impacts are estimated using a global multi-media model that simulates the fate, exposure and ultimate intake of pollutants emitted during the manufacturing, transport and use phases.
   1. IMPACTWorld: Global multi-continental multi-media model of fate and exposure
   2. A global multimedia model (IMPACTWorld) consisting of 17 continental zones, 9 ocean zones, and 33 coastal zones has been created to estimate pollutant transport and intake (Fig 1) (Shaked et al, 2007).

1. Figure 1. Overview of multi-continental model with emission, fate and exposure, and intake. The world is divided into regions based on many factors, including geography, climate, and population density. Each compartment has emission, multimedia, and exposure components.
2. We use this model to estimate the spatial intake fraction (iF), which represents the amount of pollutant intake in any region for an emission in any of the 59 zones. The iF of particulate matter (PM), which is one of the most damaging air pollutants, is highest when emitted in regions with high population density. Thus, pollutants emitted in or near China and India have large iFs because of their high population density. Preliminary results suggest that emissions in India tend to result in 3-6 times the health damage relative to that same emission in the US.
3. By incorporating jet streams into a multi-continental model, we improve our estimate of long-range transport (Seinfeld & Pandis, 1998) and of the subsequent inter-media transfers. We also discuss the influence of vertical exchange and jet streams on long-range transport and the eventual health impact.
1. Results and discussion
   1. Case Study: T-shirt made in India and consumed in Germany
   2. Our collaborators (Julia Steinberger and Damien Friot) performed a life cycle inventory of clothing made in India and bought in Germany (Fig. 2). This study shows that when efficient appliances are used in the consuming country (Europe), 70% of a T-shirt's PM emissions take place in the producing nation (India). Additionally, India experiences 75% of the total health impacts from particulate matter emissions throughout a T-shirt's life cycle (Fig. 3).

1. Figure 3. Health damage in DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) for a T-shirt made in India and bought in Germany.
2. Integration with world economic Input-Output model
3. To expand out from the T-shirt, we estimate the emissions resulting from global trade with a newly-created economic Input-Output model describing the production, consumption and trade of goods between 19 regions and 24 economic sectors. These emissions are multiplied by the spatial intake fractions (Section 2.1) in order to estimate resulting health impacts.
4. As an example, of the total amount of PM emissions associated with German textile consumption, about 20% of the emissions occur in Germany, and 30% occur in India and China (Fig 2). However, because of the high population densities in India and China, these populations experience 70% of the impact due to PM emissions from the German textile sector.
5. Additionally, we use the Input-Output model to calculate the overall household demand in all economic sectors (by region), and determine from them the corresponding globally-distributed health impacts.
1. Conclusions
2. By globally integrating an economic Input-Output model with a multi-continental multimedia life cycle impact assessment model, we find that consumption in developed countries can result in a clear disparity in health impacts between the consuming and producing countries involved. To address this, we are working with UNEP and UNECE to provide tools that help decision-makers accounts for both consumer- and producer-based impacts.
3. References
   1. Peters GP and E. Hertwich. 2006. The importance of imports for household environmental impacts. Journal of Industrial Ecology 10(3).
   2. Seinfeld JH and S. Pandis. 1998. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. New York: Wiley. 1326.
   3. Shaked S, Humbert S, Wannaz C, Schwarzer S, Margni M, Friot D, Jolliet O. 2007. Human Intake Fraction of Brominated Flame-Retardants Using a Global Multimedia Model. SETAC North America 28th Annual Meeting, Milwaukee WI.
   4. Tisdell, C. 2001. Globalisation and sustainability: environmental Kuznets curve and the WTO. Ecological Economics, 39:185-196.