Cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment of an ibuprofen analgesic

Purpose: The aim is to conduct a life cycle assessment of the analgesic Eudorlin Extra to identify environmental hotspots along its life cycle, i.e. the manufacturing of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, the galenic formulation, packaging, distribution, use and end-of-life. This publication is one of only few LCA studies that consider all life cycle stages of a pharmaceutical. Methods: The functional unit is the treatment of an adult in Germany with the purpose of pain relief for 4 days, the reference flow is one package Eudorlin Extra (10 tablets with 400 mg ibuprofen per tablet). Primary data is provided by the manufacturing companies for the production stage. The impact assessment is conducted for impact categories that have been identified as germane for the sector. A contribution analysis is performed and relevant processes are evaluated by sensitivity analyses. Results and discussion: The environmental profile is dominated by the production stage whereas the use and end-of-life are negligible. This seems to be plausible due to the high material usage during manufacturing, as opposed to the use stage where no additional inputs are required. However, methodological issues are identified which potentially affect the results such as the lack of characterization factors for the metabolites. conclusion and outlook: The results are in alignment with existing studies which emphasize the environmental relevance of the production stage. Future research should focus on improving existing impact assessment methods, developing characterization factors for metabolites and publishing inventory data on substances that are frequently used in the pharmaceutical life cycle.