Life cycle assessment has been recognized as an important decision-making tool to improve the environmental performance of agricultural systems. Still, there are certain modelling issues related to the assessment of their impacts. The first is linked to the assessment of the metal terrestrial ecotoxicity impact, for which metal speciation in soil is disregarded. In fact, emissions of metals in agricultural systems contribute significantly to the ecotoxic impact, as do copper-based fungicides applied in viticulture to combat downy mildew. Another issue is linked to the ways in which the intrinsic geographical variability of agriculture resulting from the variation of management practices, soil properties, and climate is addressed. The aim of this study is to assess the spatial variability of the terrestrial ecotoxicity impact of copper-based fungicides applied in European vineyards, accounting for both geographical variability in terms of agricultural practice and copper speciation in soil. This first entails the development of regionalized characterization factors (CFs) for the copper used in viticulture and then the application of these CFs to a regionalized life-cycle inventory that considers different management practices, soil properties, and climates in different regions, namely Languedoc-Roussillon (France), Minho (Portugal), Tuscany (Italy), and Galicia (Spain). There are two modelling alternatives to determine metal speciation in terrestrial ecotoxicity: (a) empirical regression models; and (b) WHAM 6.0, the geochemical speciation model applied according to the soil properties of the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). Both approaches were used to compute and compare regionalized CFs with each other and with current IMPACT 2002+ CF. The CFs were then aggregated at different spatial resolutions—global, Europe, country, and wine-growing region—to assess the uncertainty related to spatial variability at the different scales and applied in the regionalized case study. The global CF computed for copper terrestrial ecotoxicity is around 3.5 orders of magnitude lower than the one from IMPACT 2002+, demonstrating the impact of including metal speciation. For both methods, an increase in the spatial resolution of the CFs translated into a decrease in the spatial variability of the CFs. With the exception of the aggregated CF for Portugal (Minho) at the country level, all the aggregated CFs derived from empirical regression models are greater than the ones derived from the method based on WHAM 6.0 within a range of 0.2 to 1.2 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, CFs calculated with empirical regression models exhibited a greater spatial variability with respect to the CFs derived from WHAM 6.0. The ranking of the impact scores of the analyzed scenarios was mainly determined by the amount of copper applied in each wine-growing region. However, finer spatial resolutions led to an impact score with lower uncertainty.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) liners have been proposed by industry as a more cost effective and less disruptive alternative to lead service lines (LSL) replacement. However, concerns have been raised about their aging under real-use conditions and their potential health and environmental impacts. In this study, two approaches were implemented. First, bench and pilot scale experiments were carried out to investigate the aging of a PET liner under conditions that simulate normal usage. Results show early surface oxidation and leaching of potentially hazardous metals (lead, zinc and titanium). No short-term fragmentation of the PET liner into microplastics was observed. Next, a life cycle assessment (LCA) compared the health and environmental impacts of three LSL upgrades alternatives: PET liners and full LSL replacement using either copper or PEX pipes. The installation phase was shown to be the main contributor to impact scores, while the benefits of PET liners are highly dependent on its lifespan. PEX installed by torpedoing lowers impacts as compared to PET liners and copper pipes for equal lifespan, while the use of PET liners remains less impactful regarding human health and ecosystem quality when a complete excavation is needed. LCA derived global human health effects due to ingestion of leached metals from PET liners, copper pipes, and unreplaced LSL and showed that PET liners and copper pipes significantly reduce health impacts by 14 and 80 DALY respectively compared to unreplaced LSL. Finally, the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model was used to assess the impact of lead exposure specifically for drinking water ingestion. Estimated Blood Lead Levels (BLL) in children and infants in households with long unreplaced LSL was up to 263.7% and 207.8% greater compared to either replacement with copper pipes or rehabilitation with PET liners, showing the clear benefits of corrective action. Combining experimental results, LCA and biokinetic modelling provides actionable information for utilities to select the best upgrade options, considering environmental, health and practical constraints, whilst identifying remaining data gaps. The relative benefits of the PET liner should be carefully evaluated considering its lifespan under real-life conditions, the complete replacement costs after failure, and the growing evidence of micro- and nanoplastics (MNP) risks.