Putting Safety Costs into Perspective: On Comparing Life Cycle Costing of SEM, ICP-MS, and DMS500 for Nanomaterials Characterization

Abstract

Advanced physicochemical characterization relies on high-value analytical instrumentation, yet its broader lifecycle costs remain insufficiently examined. One approach to addressing this gap is to assess costs generated throughout the operational life of laboratory equipment. In this study, the suitability of Life Cycle Costing for evaluating the economic performance of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and differential mobility spectrometry (DMS500) was assessed, using one operating hour as the functional unit. Under the base-case scenario, DMS500 exhibited the lowest lifecycle cost (€0.84 million), followed by ICP-MS (€0.99 million), whereas SEM presented the highest cost. When accident-related costs were incorporated, the lifecycle cost of SEM increased from €1.20 million to €1.34 million, corresponding to an increase of 11.7%. With accident costs incorporated, SEM exceeded ICP-MS and DMS500 by approximately €357,000 and €501,000, respectively. The analysis is based on data from one laboratory, applies a time-based functional unit that does not represent equivalent analytical output, and reflects the current availability of empirical accident-related information. A key feature of the proposed framework is the integration of lifecycle economic assessment with safety-related costs. The findings demonstrate that accident-related cost can substantially increase the SEM lifecycle cost without changing its comparative economic position. Future work should expand the economic profiling of analytical instrumentation and evaluate how avoided accident costs evolve over time. Expanding laboratory logbooks into structured tools for documenting associated costs could strengthen the evidence base for accident costs and support more informed lifecycle economic decision-making.