Effect based monitoring in water safety planning

As we are becoming more and more aware of the large number of organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment, it is no longer possible to evaluate the elimination of the individual organic micropollutants in (drinking) water treatment plants (DWTPs) or to guarantee the absence of their transformation products (TP), including metabolites and disinfection by-products (DBP). It is also difficult to evaluate which mixtures may induce adverse health effects at a later date, given that very low concentrations may already cause adverse effects, e.g., endocrine disrupting effects. While these low concentrations are unlikely to pose a significant health concern, there is a scarcity of toxicity information on many of the chemicals currently in commercial use, and in most cases it is impossible to conduct a proper risk assessment for all organic micropollutants.

The possible health impacts of these substances are of major interest to water operators and public consumers alike. As these concerns are widely debated today, they require a scientific, objective and rigorous assessment of consumer exposures. There is an increased requirement to assess the level of risks to human health under premium cost-effective and predictive monitoring frameworks to better ensure that there is no exposure to these early biological effects.