# Describe what is meant by a life cycle assessment (LCA) and outline two limitations of using an LCA to compare two products.

> Eduqas GCSE Chemistry — C10 Using resources · Describe · 4 marks

## Mark scheme (4 marks)

1. An LCA examines the environmental impact of a product at each stage of its life / from raw material extraction to disposal
2. The stages considered include obtaining raw materials, manufacturing/processing, use, and disposal/recycling
3. First limitation: some data used in an LCA can be selective or subjective / different organisations may assign different values to the same environmental impact
4. Second limitation: it is difficult / impossible to fully quantify every environmental impact (e.g. effect on biodiversity or social impacts are hard to measure numerically)

## Key terms

- [life cycle assessment](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/life-cycle-assessment)

## Related

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Source: [GradeNine](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/q/describe-what-is-meant-by-a-db109f64) · Published by Druglandscape Ltd.