Towards a method for quantifying health benefits from economic value in social life cycle assessment

Abstract Purpose The economic value generated in processes along product life cycles can satisfy the needs and pleasures of the earners. In this study, we investigate whether that economic value can lead to positive health benefits for workers and other people through subsequent economic exchanges, and whether such benefits can be quantified in the context of social life cycle assessment (SLCA). Methods A brief literature review on the connection between the generation of economic value and health is provided. This review identifies two main impact pathways: the materialistic pathway and the psychosocial pathway. Of these, this paper focusses on developing characterization factors for the materialistic pathway. They are derived by multiplying a country-level income health factor (IHF) with a process-level value added (VA). The IHF was derived from a regression analysis of country-level life expectancy and income data. The VA can be calculated for each individual process based on differences in constituent and output prices. Results and discussion IHFs are highest for low-income countries, such as Somalia, and lowest for high-income countries, such as Luxembourg. The characterization factors can be multiplied by flows related to the functional unit, yielding results in disability-adjusted life years (DALY). The approach is illustrated with a simple unit process representing artisanal cobalt mining, showing that the magnitude of positive health impacts from economic value can be considerable, which suggests it is important to consider these in SLCA. Conclusions This work takes further steps towards developing a method that relates the generation of economic value to positive health impacts, with explicitly calculated characterization factors and fewer constraints compared to previous attempts at assessing health benefits from economic value in SLCA. Limitations include the need for continuous updates of the characterization factors.