project

Protecting Drinking Water Under Different Regulations: Differences and Similarities of Avoidable and Unavoidable Risks

Despite advancements in water treatment methods, pervasive water pollution and discussions about alternative sources of drinking water are eliciting stronger regulatory action and pressing the drinking water sector to cope with stringent standards.

Well-stablished risk assessment principles and tools mostly underpin drinking water legislation. However, will these withstand the future challenges posed by residual contaminants, and their complex mixtures? May risk principles and approaches from other scientific and regulatory frameworks be considered in the drinking water domain?

The aim of this project is to study recent developments in (inter)national regulatory risk assessment across domains, in particular food and drinking water safety, and evaluate the potential impact of the adoption of alternative risk assessment principles on water quality standard setting and risk management.