ImpactCategory
enumerationImpact Category
An impact category represents a specific environmental issue that the LCA aims to assess, such as global warming or ozone depletion. Each category aggregates the effects of different emissions that contribute to the same environmental problem. (LCAnet Ontology, SmartACV Project, Version 1.0, 2025) An impact category is classified as whether is corresponds to environmental impact, social impact, etc.
Values (13)
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| acidification Acidification | Measures the potential of a product system's emissions to cause acidification in ecosystems (soil, water, vegetation), mainly from SO₂, NOx, and NH₃ emissions. |
| climateChangeTotal Climate change, total | Climate change, total |
| ecotoxicityFreshwater Ecotoxicity, freshwater | Ecotoxicity, freshwater |
| eutrophicationFreshwater Eutrophication, freshwater | Measures potential nutrient enrichment of freshwater ecosystems due to emissions of N and P compounds, causing effects such as algal blooms. |
| eutrophicationMarine Eutrophication, marine | Measures potential nutrient enrichment of marine ecosystems due to emissions of N and P compounds. |
| eutrophicationTerrestial Eutrophication, Terrestial | Measures potential nutrient enrichment of terrestrial ecosystems due to nitrogen deposition. |
| humanToxicityCancer Human toxicity, cancer | Measures the potential carcinogenic effects of a product system on humans due to chemical emissions. |
| humanToxicityNonCancer Human toxicity, non-cancer | Measures the potential non-carcinogenic effects of a product system on humans due to chemical emissions. |
| ionisingRadiationHumanHealth Ionising radiation, human health | Measures the potential human health impact of ionizing radiation due to a product system, including exposure to radioactive substances. |
| landUseOccupationAndTransformation Land use (occupation and transformation) | Measures the potential environmental impact of land occupation and transformation due to a product system, including both the area of land used and its conversion from one type to another. |
| ozoneDepletion Ozone depletion | Measures the potential reduction of the stratospheric ozone layer caused by emissions of ozone-depleting substances in a product system. |
| particulateMatter Particulate matter | Measures the potential human health impacts of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emitted by a product system, including respiratory and cardiovascular effects. |
| photochemicalOzoneFormationHumanHealth Photochemical ozone formation, human health | Measures the potential human health impact of photochemical ozone formation (smog) due to VOCs and NOx emissions from a product system. |