Life cycle assessment of disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airway in Skånevård Sund

Abstract: Single use medical devices have been the widespread practice for clinical work for many years. However, the negative environmental impacts of using disposable products have also attracted attention worldwide. To choose a disposable or reusable medical device should not only encompass economic and clinical safety aspects but also environmental impact. This study has compared environmental impact between disposable laryngeal mask airway (LMA) and reusable LMA during their life cycles. The life cycle assessment was performed and focused on the “cradleto grave” approach includingmaterial extraction, manufacturing, transport, use phase and end-of-life handling. The Ecoinvent database v3.3was applied for assumptions and modelling of the major inventory data and SimaPro software was then used for analysis based on the ReCiPe endpoint method. Results show that the PVC made product, disposable LMA has greater environmental impacts than the reusable LMA within all selected impact categories except one, category agricultural land occupation. This is due to the use of washing detergent for the reusable LMA. Moreover, a list of alternative assumption parameters such as energy sources, reuse circles and different types of washing detergent were investigated. The results present a significant deviation when the energy source was analysed. The optimized options that are benefit for reducing the reusable product’s environmental impacts are using renewable energy such as hydro power from run-of-river or wind power. This study gives a strong evidence of that the reusable LMA is more environmentally friendly than the disposable LMA. Keywords: life cycle assessment; laryngeal mask airway