Life cycle assessment of electronic, electric and nonelectric detonators; a site-specific case for Czech Republic

The widespread use of detonators across industries such as construction and mining introduces significant environmental risks throughout their life cycle, creating a need to understand and mitigate their environmental impacts. The current study addresses this issue by evaluating the environmental footprint of three commonly used types of detonators-electronic, electric, and non-electric-through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The main objective is to identify which detonator type poses the greatest environmental burden and to propose actionable strategies for impact reduction. As functional unit is chosen one piece of detonator with system boundaries set to cradle to grave. Using primary data, we constructed a comprehensive Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and performed a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), focusing on key impact categories. Results indicate that the electronic detonator, which excels in e.g. high variability detonation timing without losing the timing precision, exhibits the highest environmental impacts, especially concerning Freshwater Ecotoxicity, Global Warming Potential and Abiotic Fossil Depletion (e.g. 1,73E-05, 1,20E-05 and 2,12E-06 (normalized and weighted), respectively, for modules A1-A3). For the detonation itself (module A5), the non-electric detonator exhibits relatively high results for Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (7,45E-06 kg NMVOC eq.), while the electric detonator shows highest burdens for Ecotoxicity Freshwater (5,39E-03 CTUe). Based on these findings, we recommend specific measures, such as adopting materials with recycled content, light-weight materials, bio-based and -degradable materials or alternative fuels, to support more sustainable detonator production and usage.