The KWR Side Event on Chemicals of Emerging Concern

Roundtable discussions led by Arash Zamyadi (Monash University) and KWR were kicked off by plenary presentations by Rinnert Schurer (Evides), Simon Ayley (Water Research Centre) and Milou Dingemans (KWR). While enjoying sunlight and bites, and a spicy green juice for those who dared, diverse groups (water utilities, research institutes, academia, industry) vividly discussed which of the different approaches fit best in different practical cases, and if other choices would be made in the different future scenarios developed in GRROW. There was a lot of interest mainly for the exposome concept, which was a new concept for about half of the audience.

The groups generally agreed that new methods are needed to interpret realistic exposures (e.g. chemical mixtures), and we discussed the developments in the European PARC project. Other issues that came up were the need to combine data collected using many different analytical methods, the combination of (current) water quality and exposure studies with exposome research, and a need to develop large databases on exposures and health at an international level.

Another key point that came up is that any OMP quantification should be implemented with care to allow end-users (water utilities and their laboratories) to adapt and/or prepare, especially regarding communication to the public. This warrants attention so no undue or premature unclarity about the reliability and safety of drinking water is unintentionally created.

Generally, it was concluded that the different approaches to address exposures and risks can exist in parallel. There are many opportunities for exposome research, but this field is still in development. It is clear that there are opportunities and possibilities for the water sector to contribute to the knowledge base that is needed before exposome data can be included in regulation and best practices to target measures and protect human health.