Developing a Global Risk-based Tool for Prioritizing Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) for the Water Industry (New Project!)

New Project !

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) pose a risk to the water industry due to their presence in sewage and drinking water sources, as well as their potential formation during treatment and their potential toxicity to humans and the environment. A defining feature of a CEC is a lack of knowledge on either occurrence, persistence, or toxicity (or all three), making it difficult for the water industry to accurately assess the risk they are managing as part of their operational responsibilities, and to meet their community’s increased need for transparent communication in regards to their own risk perception.
CECs are a truly global issue for the water industry especially as they do not abide by national or geographic boundaries, and hence it is appropriate for the GWRC to take the lead in developing globally relevant scientific approaches and tools that support a common approach to CEC risk evaluation and prioritization efforts.
The GWRC project will, however, not start from scratch, but will be built on existing efforts as much as possible and translate these into meaningful, nationally specific, risk ratings. For example, many databases and tools have already been developed to assist water industry practitioners around the world to cope with the occurrence and complexity of the ever increasing number of new chemicals on the market (and their transformation products formed in the environment or during water treatment), by bridging the gap between the uncertainty about a particular chemical or compound and the actual (individual) risk it poses to the environment and public health. GWRC members have advised that the following are in use among them: NORMAN; Archie; REACH; toxicological and microbiological data tool and data sheets used by UKWIR; nation bespoke regulatory water quality limits; etc.
The proposed new global tool will augment the efficacy of these existing databases and tools by enabling individual CECs to be considered in comparison to each other in a local setting so that clear priorities emerge. The tool will be based on the risk ranking tool developed by Water Research Australia and Griffith University.