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On the basis of such criteria, single-use disposable medical devices are increasingly supplanting reusable devices in the United States (US) and elsewhere.1 Although purchase and maintenance costs for disposable devices are perceived to be less than for reusables, this fails to account for indirect costs to society from the environmental impacts attributable to the entire life cycle of a device. For climate change impacts specifically, the reusable LMA contributes 7.4 kg CO2e of GHGs over its life cycle, and the equivalent 40 disposable LMAs contribute 11.3 kg CO2e, or approximately the equivalent to burning a gallon (4 L) of gasoline. Most tungsten, about 85%, is extracted from various ores in China (Siddle, How Is Tungsten Carbide Formed?). Sensor3 disposable razors for men feature an enhanced Lubrastrip with water activated Comfortgel technology for ultra-gentle shaving on your sensitive skin. This break-even point will change depending on the category of environmental impact being considered. Whereas transportation has a relatively significant GHG impact for the disposable LMAs, by comparison the transportation of reusable LMAs has little impact on GHG emissions, because 40 disposable LMAs must be shipped to provide an equivalent function to 1 reusable LMA. 3 in Table 1). LMAs may be composed of 40% DEHP by weight. The LMAs were first rinsed in tap water, scrubbed externally with a Hibiclens sponge and internally with a small scrub brush, and rinsed again. It can also help them to compare the newly redesigned product to the original, acting as a benchmark to ensure the design changes are actually positive for the environment. LeBlanc, Rick. Questions and Answers: CreutzfeldtJakob Disease Infection-Control Practices. I found information about the whole blade manufacturing process, but could not find details about energy consumption in every step of the process. 2011, Packaging Technology and Science. 8 John Adam Street Iatrogenic transmission of the CreutzfeldtJakob disease agent has been reported in >250 patients worldwide, and 6 of these were linked to the use of contaminated equipment, all of which were neurosurgical related. Select patients who are highly infective warrant the choice of disposable devices; however, data do not support selecting disposables for all patients to avoid any possible risk of infection. LCA is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service. Get new journal Tables of Contents sent right to your email inbox, http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/cjd/qa_cjd_infection_control.htm, Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Laryngeal Mask Airways, Articles in PubMed by Matthew Eckelman, PhD, Articles in Google Scholar by Matthew Eckelman, PhD, Other articles in this journal by Matthew Eckelman, PhD, May 2012 - Environment and Anesthesia Practice, A Comparison of Reusable and Disposable Perioperative Textiles: Sustainability State-of-the-Art 2012, Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Anesthetic Drugs, Environmental and Occupational Considerations of Anesthesia: A Narrative Review and Update, Global Warming Potential of Inhaled Anesthetics: Application to Clinical Use, A Survey of Anesthesiologists' Views of Operating Room Recycling, Privacy Policy (Updated December 15, 2022), International Anesthesia Research Society. Biron, Michel. Subramaniar Trading Company. A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. Sets Strategy to End 'Staggering' Garbage Crisis.The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Sept. 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/09/23/us/epa-sets-strategy-to-end-staggering-garbage-crisis.html. At every point during planning, production, and even marketing, the quantity of consumption should be analyzed to adjust business models accordingly. The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was introduced into clinical use in the late 1980s and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the US in 1991. Anesth Analg 1993;77:1079, 21. a Centers for Disease Control. However, given the environmental toll to such a fast accumulating, and non-biodegradable product, waste management must be more considered by both the manufacturers and the buyers. The total amount of indirect emissions was 89,762 tonnes of carbon dioxide (For You For Everyone Registration Document). The life cycle for disposable razors must first be assessed by the products design. Poly(p-Phenylene Oxide). Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Sept. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(p-phenylene_oxide). Rogers, Tony. Several clinical trials comparing function and ease of placement demonstrated no significant difference between disposable and reusable versions,25 allowing hospitals to base purchase decisions on economic considerations alone. My next blog post will show some design recommendations using sketches and 3D-printed prototypes. The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. Address correspondence to Jodi Sherman, MD, Yale University, School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, 333 Cedar Street, TMP3, New Haven, CT 06520. Growing awareness of the negative impacts from the practice of health care on the environment and public health calls for the routine inclusion of life cycle criteria into the decision-making process of device selection. Pollution of the oceans from plastics has become an increasingly large issue that researchers are still assessing. In this post I havent shown the whole process, but there are downloadable links to my full Eco-Indicator results, and to the template form if youd like to carry out an assessment yourself. Please try again soon. Contamination problems with reuse of laryngeal mask airways and laryngoscopes. Ecoinvent 2.2. BIC has reported their total energy usage and carbon footprint in their factories around the world, this was all however for the year 2016. Disposable razors are a product that can be found in almost any average bathroom. There is always some level of uncertainty in the results and in the methodology; so users shouldnt take the numbers shown as absolute values, but more as a guide to prioritise work. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing the potential environmental aspects and potential aspects associated with a product (or service), by: compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs, evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs, The differences in environmental impacts between these devices strongly favor reusable devices. 0 8tZ . The hardest part of this whole process is the data gathering. The powder is then shaped, usually by the process of die stamping. :396?Qkt)e. This practice meets American Society of Anesthesiologists' recommendations for infection control for equipment requiring high-level disinfection.14. Each manufacturing plant or node in the supply chain is referred to as agate-to-gate (GTG) life cycle inventory. Siddle, Dave. The Potential of Polypropylene.Recycling Today, Recycling Today, 17 July 2019, www.recyclingtoday.com/article/the-recycling-potential-of-polypropylene/. The plastic handle and head of the disposable razor consists of a hybrid of polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide, also known as PPO. In conclusion, disposable razors are being used and thrown away at a rate that is unsustainable for the finite space on the planet. Life cycle analysis takes into account the following categories: Energy consumption Water consumption Air emissions (including carbon dioxide and other global warming gases) Water emissions Generation of solid waste Despite its ability to be recycled, it often ends up in the landfill as many people dont know how to properly recycle it, people are too lazy to recycle, or the plastics arent labeled properly (Polypropylene. Wikipedia). The life cycle assessment results shown here allow clinicians and health care administrators to understand the balance between direct benefits of a given LMA choice to local patient care and the environmental and human health impacts of that choice that occur far from the operating room. The 2 LMA options are nearly equivalent in terms of eutrophication impacts, but with different contributions. Approximately 24 L/min of water are used by the autoclave for cooling, for a total of 960 L of water needed to sterilize an LMA 40 times. This is shown through their commitment to their eco-design process and new recycling programs that are undergoing testing. From San Diego, both LMAs were assumed to be transported 4700 km by truck to New Haven, CT (70% of shipments in the US are made by truck).13. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation | Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, www.bts.gov/content/energy-consumption-mode-transportation. The natural half life of a large stock of reusable laryngeal mask airways at a teaching hospital. The EPA has now stopped tracking the: impact of disposable razors on the environment and has no update on the figure (Olsen). : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts. ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, 17 June 2019, www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/polystyrene/. 2.Define the life-cycle On the basis of manufacturer information and density testing, the materials used in the 2 LMAs were identified and their compositions measured using a microgram scale (Table 1). It has been assumed that the only part recycled at the end of life is the packaging. The blades do eventually dissipate within the landfill, yet, it is not cost-free, as the tungsten waste can be ultimately harmful to the environment. I could however not find any details about the energy consumption of the machines used in the assembly process. Decision makers have typically favored disposable LMAs because the purchase price is perceived to be less for a comparable quantity of disposable LMAs, in comparison with 1 reusable LMA with its associated labor costs for in-house reprocessing.6. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modeling tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of products and processes. It is cheap and highly versatile, and can either be hard plastic material, or a soft foam material, making it one of the most common plastic materials manufactured and used (What Is Polystyrene? Wat LI, Brimacombe JR, Gee S. Laryngeal mask airway longevity and pilot-balloon failure. There are land, air, and water-based transportation methods. The tracking can come from sales, and in 2018 more than $1.2 billion in disposable razors were sold in the U.S., with varying prices but many disposables costing less than $1 each (Olsen). The company reported that with their hazardous waste in 2016 11 percent was recycled, 49 percent incinerated with energy recovery, 8 percent sent to land disposal, and 32 percent was sent off to be treated in another way (For You for Everyone Registration Document). It is at this stage that very small amounts of other metals such as iron, silicon, and chromium may be added to the carbide to increase its strength and durability. The use of LCA to introduce life-cycle thinking into decision-making for the purchase of medical devices in the NHS. A Life Cycle Assessment is the systematic analysis of the environmental impact of products during their entire life cycle. By raising awareness and creating locations where one can drop off used razors for recycling, perhaps a change can come. However, by looking at just this one company, there is a sense of the massive amount of direct and indirect emissions from just the making of razors that are thrown away so quickly after use, with an increase annually of users. This means that it takes around 1 BTU to heat a 0.035-ounce razor blade to the desired temperature (Julabo et.al). Contribution: This author helped conduct the study and analyze the data. Park Ridge, IL: American Society of Anesthesiologists, 1999, 15. Due to the nature of the disposable razor, they are usually just thrown in the trash and sent off to a landfill. 39 ($0.37/Count) FREE delivery Thu, Mar 2 on $25 of items shipped by Amazon. Their carbon footprint was reported with the highest offender being air travel for the product, and staff transportation coming from France: accounting for 73% of the companys annual greenhouse gas emissions (Bic). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. associated with the environmental interventions attributable to the life-cycle of a product. Plastics are cleaned and pelletized to be recycled into new products, such as picnic tables and park benches. Because of its high stability, PPO is a very widely used plastic for many different household items. After reaching the end of their useful lives, both LMAs and their respective packages entered waste management, which was modeled using US average statistics on recycling/composting, landfilling, and incineration.15 Although some incineration facilities also produce electricity, this credit is not included here. Contribution: This author helped design the study, analyze the data, and prepare the manuscript. This obviously makes the results less accurate, but it can still be used as a general indicator of impact. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Not all form of impacts are valued the same, so the ones with the largest impact should be tackled first in order to produce the maximum overall improvement. Premature disposal of reusable LMAs has significant environmental impacts (as well as costs, discussed below). BIC says its product beats out other models by 59 percent. Conversely, impacts can be reduced by autoclaving more LMAs at once or with other equipment with similar decontamination requirements. E.P.A. In landfilling or incinerating this part, the large amount of energy and material value used in creating it is lost. Main methodological choices . 761 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[]/Index[748 22]/Info 747 0 R/Length 72/Prev 421064/Root 749 0 R/Size 770/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream It has been assumed that the packaging contains cardboard, even though it has been made from other natural fibres like bamboo, as there is no info on those materials in the Eco-Indicator tables. "Tungsten Processing." The environmental effects of labor are often omitted from life cycle assessment studies, but are included here as part of the sensitivity analysis. More immediate levels of waste, however, happen during the processing of disposable razors before they are even brought to the buyer and the landfill. This reflects the equivalence between 40 disposable LMAs and their associated materials, waste, and 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA. The largest sources of both cancer and noncancer impacts for the reusable LMA are from emissions from waste management (35%), the mining and production of metals to build wastewater treatment infrastructure (25%), and the bleaching of packaging paper and the card insert (20%). Soulias M, Martin L, Garnier N, Juniot A, Aho L, Freysz M. Disposable vs reusable laryngeal mask airway: a cost-minimization analysis. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a process of evaluating the effects that a product has on the environment over the entire period of its life thereby increasing resource-use efficiency and decreasing liabilities. In this paper, this will be exactly what we will discuss, from what materials go into making a disposable razor and how they are made, to what happens to it after its tossed out, and all the energy and waste that is used and expelled throughout its lifecycle. %PDF-1.5 % The life cycle assessment software package SimaPro 7.3.2 was used to conduct our analysis.10 The majority of inventory data were drawn from the ecoinvent v2.2 life cycle inventory database.11 Impacts were assessed using the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability v4.02 impact assessment method,12 which encompasses both environmental concerns (such as climate change, acid rain and smog formation, water use, and ozone depletion) and human-health-related impacts (such as cancer and noncancer ailments and emission of criteria air pollutants). In life cycle assessment, the basis of comparison is called the functional unit. For this report, the functional unit of the disposable and reusable LMAs was taken to be maintenance of airway patency by 40 disposable LMAs or 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA.9 Data collection was specific to Yale New Haven Hospital, including device transportation, cleaning procedures and labor, energy requirements, and disposal. The final value for the cartridge-based razor was 115.06 mPt, and the value for the double edge safety razor was 15.70 mPt. However, the LCA is not an exact science and has its limitations: The polypropylene is sorted during recycling using a float test that separates it from other materials based on its ability to float due to its weight, then it is often melted down and reused in other product manufacturing. Safety Razor. How Products Are Made www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. These results suggest that the reusable LMA Classic has fewer life cycle impacts in comparison with the disposable LMA Unique at Yale New Haven Hospital, across several categories of concern. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) measures the impact of products on the environment. To start the process of making the blades, tungsten carbide is melted at high temperatures. Polycarbonate production (14%), transportation via truck (15%), thermoforming (13%), and waste disposal (11%) cause the majority of the remaining emissions. A 2005 analysis published by U.K. Gillette's slogan 'Gillette - the best a man can get' is famous the world over. Anesth Analg 2012;114:105566, 8. Sustainable Development at BIC . 6 Jan. 2011. disposable paper diaper; material recycling; closed-loop recycling; life cycle assessment (LCA) 1. Finally, the razors are packaged in cardboard and plastic, and shipped out to stores and markets globally for customers to purchase and use. The mixed plastics used in most of the razor take hundreds of years to break down in landfill, and the blades, while the metal is recyclable if separated from the rest of the product, poses a safety hazard for both the consumer and the employees who handle recyclables. No such cases have been reported since 1976.a There is no reported case of iatrogenic infection of any type linked to a reusable LMA. An estimated 1 L of tap water was used to wash and rinse 1 LMA (or 40 L over a lifetime of 40 uses). The number of times an LMA is reused is a particularly uncertain assumption, because there have been reports of premature disposal.16 Use in excess of the manufacturer recommended 40 times has also been reported,17 and 100 to 200 uses appears to be possible with proper handling and preuse checks.1821 Here, 10, 20, 30, 60, 80, and 100 cycles are considered as alternative assumptions. The majority of eutrophication impacts from disposable LMAs are from deposition of nitrogen oxide particulates from electricity generation and waste incineration, and impacts for the reusable LMA are nearly all from wastewater used in the cleaning process. Reprints will not be available from the authors. Interpretation of results The last step in the process is to interpret the results and compare them against each other. SimaPro is our flagship product: life cycle assessment software that gives sustainability experts, product designers and decision-makers the power to gain insight into the environmental performance of products and services, to define hotspots and to drive positive change. Marine cargo ships use a fuel called heavy fuel oil which produces around 145,000 BTU per gallon (Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation.). McGain F, McAlister S, McGavin A, Story D. The financial and environmental costs of reusable and single-use plastic anaesthetic drug trays. There are some solutions and new recycling ideas, yet, the reduction of waste for disposable razors is still far off. BIC may be doing as much as possible to lessen the impact of the production of disposable razors, but due to the massive production it will because unsustainable, because of the energy input, material consumptions, and unrecyclable nature of disposable razors. Highlights Manufacturer specifications indicate 20 kWh of electricity use for a 5-minute cycle at 135C. Camera visual inspection is performed and This is all to ensure BICs quality standards are being met and ensure a quality product. Biro P. Damage to laryngeal masks during sterilization. The number of BIC razors that are used by consumers is astounding. Redesigning the Razor Life Cycle Assessment. The Great Recovery, http://www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/3682/. Finally, the assessment will be carried out on the new design to assess if it has a lower impact than the other options analysed. 0 In the late 1990s, disposable LMAs became available. a 4.1% (Bic). Applying this method of assessment is complex and difficult and translating the theory into a . The results also suggest effective procurement strategies for reducing the impacts of disposable LMAs where they are selected. The studies have not found it to be harmful to drinking water, or public safety, however, it is an ongoing research of soil data that continues. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. An LCA is a life cycle assessment which is completed through research, testing and understanding of the environmental impacts a particular item creates through it's resources use/ production/distribution/disposal. These impacts are quantified here in terms of energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using general factors for US labor.22. This is done on an assembly line by the robotic arm the inserts the razor blade into the small crevices in the plastic body. EPA. 85 percent of the energy came from electricity, 14 percent came from gas, and the rest came from fuel oil (For You For Everyone Registration Document). After the reusable LMA was washed and dried, it was then placed into a heat seal pouch, made of polypropylene film and paper. The largest difference in environmental impacts is seen in the impact category of carcinogenesis, in which reusable LMAs cause 5% of the impacts of disposable LMAs. Bic Disposable Razor (1975). Plastics News Europe, 19 Nov. 2009, www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20091119/PNE/311199986/bic-disposable-razor-1975. Some error has occurred while processing your request. Teoh W, Lim Y. Address e-mail to [emailprotected]. Disposable razors are designed for consumers that prefer minimum spending . The metal that can be used in the cartridge is also cut out during this stage. Lippiatt BC, Boyles AS. 5.Interpret and analyse the results. If you count the actual razor cover (if you haven't lost it long ago) then it will be four pieces for recycling. Life-cycle assessment stages The most important sources of impacts for the disposable LMA were the production of polymers, packaging, and waste management, whereas for the reusable LMA, washing and sterilization dominated for most impact categories. All of these software packages and models are in widespread use by life cycle assessment practitioners in the US and internationally. In this process, the metal is heated to temperatures of 1,967-2,048F (1,075-1,120C), then quenched in water to a temperature between -76- -112 F (-60- -80 C) to harden it. The blades and lubricating strip were too light to be measured with our equipment so their weights were rounded to 1g. : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts, ChemicalSafetyFacts.org,). Sustainable Development Report. To begin the process of making tungsten carbide, the tungsten must first be extracted. The Ramboll Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) found that, assuming realistic usage over a year, the energy consumption involved in the use phase of reusable plastic and traditional crockery, during in-store or out-sourced washing and drying, outweighed the environmental impact of single-use paper dishes. Shabecoff, Philip. 3. Finally, inclusion of the environmental impacts of labor for cleaning (from wages spent on goods and services) only nominally increases the total GHG and water impacts of reusable LMAs. may email you for journal alerts and information, but is committed A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to identify the environmental risks of existing and planned products, services and manufacturing processes as well as identify strategic improvement opportunities. 3.7.Product Life Cycle Analysis . A new incentive must come for companies to be more sustainable with resources and create products that can still be cheap for the buyer, while also not taking a high cost on the environment. In this case its much harder for me to carry out an LCA on a Gillette razor than if Gillette did the LCA themselves, as they would have all the correct info required first-hand (reducing the number of assumptions needing to be used). Once in the landfill, it usually takes around 20-30 years to breakdown. Chu L, Mathur P, Trudell J, Brock-Utne J. J Environ Assess Policy Manage 2000;2:45376, 2. Anesthesia & Analgesia114(5):1067-1072, May 2012. Such an analysis is commonly performed using life cycle assessment.