Potential impacts to human health from climate change: A comparative life-cycle assessment of single-use versus reusable devices flexible ureteroscopes

Abstract

Climate change poses a significant global health challenge, with medical procedures contributing substantially to CO₂ emissions. Urology, as part of the broader healthcare sector, has begun integrating Planetary Health concepts to address this issue. While earlier studies have focused on Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of urological procedures, these evaluations remain data-dependent, and insights into intra-hospital emissions are limited. This study introduces a methodical approach for analyzing intra-institutional processes of LCA for single-use and reusable flexible ureterorenoscopes (fURS). The LCA method was applied to assess the greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂ equivalents, CO₂-eq) generated across the life cycle of fURS, including production, use-phase, reprocessing, maintenance, and disposal. The study approximated the Global Warming Potential (GWP) per one-hour use and evaluated associated health impacts using the ReCiPe2016(H) method, which measures Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Results showed that for reusable fURS, assuming 133 usages per device and maintenance after every 11th use, each application generated 1.24 kg CO₂-eq, equivalent to 1.15E-06 DALYs. In contrast, single-use fURS generated 4.93 kg CO₂-eq and 4.57E-06 DALYs per application. The production and reprocessing stages were identified as having the greatest environmental and health impacts. For reusable fURS, electricity required during refurbishment and use phases was a key contributor, whereas the production phase accounted for most of the impact in single-use devices. Overall, singleuse fURS had a substantially higher potential environmental and health impact than their reusable counterparts. This study underscores the environmental and health impacts of ureterorenoscopy and highlights the importance of incorporating Planetary Health principles into healthcare practices. It provides a foundation for further analyses and research, aiming to drive transformative action in the healthcare sector toward sustainability.