Green Week 2012 EUREAU position on emerging pollutants in the water cycle Dr. Frank Sacher, EUREAU Commission I

European umbrella federation of national water and wastewater associations representing about 70.000 utilities in 28 European countries

Founded in 1975 EUREAU aims for a provision of reliable and high quality water

supply and wastewater services which: protect public health fully respect the natural environment support economic development are socially acceptable

A WORD ABOUT EUREAU

PHARMACEUTICALS (EMERGING POLLUTANTS) IN THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

Pharmaceuticals can be found almost ubiquitously in the aquatic environment in Europe

They are mainly discharged into WWTPs and only incompletely removed during conventional treatment

Concentration levels range from few ng/L up to several µg/L No trends towards decreasing concentrations can be seen over the

last decades Occurrence in shallow groundwater is due to wastewater impact Knowledge on eco-toxicological effects is limited

Most efficient treatment of wastewater in WWTPs deal with only a small % of pollutants

Priority investments in WWTPs should focus on N and P removal (which is still an issue for many member states)

Drinking water is a natural product and has to be free of emerging substances (independent of toxicological concerns)

Abstraction of water from resources which need only natural treatment should be feasible

Every treatment being it drinking water or waste water is costly and paid by consumers

EUREAU’s PERSPECTIVE: no end-of-pipe !

Concentration levels found in drinking waters are far below therapeutic doses

No adverse health effects are expected (although knowledge on effects of mixtures and long-term effects is still incomplete)

No threshold limits in national or international drinking water directives exist (yet)

Possible threshold limits would only be exceeded in few exceptional cases

BUT…

EUREAU’s PERSPECTIVE

CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION

Nature 424, 5 (2003)

CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITIES

Monitoring programs (occurrence, removal efficiencies)

Internal and external exchange of knowledge (EUREAU, national level,…)

Communication with consumers

Consultations with producers, doctors, authorities, politicians…

Research & innovation activities: development of analytical methods identification of sources removal during treatment transformation products effects

EUREAU POSITION PAPER

issued on 17.06.2011

Proposed key-actions

Define acceptable environmental impact within authorisation process

Prevent and reduce emissions

Improve knowledge

http://eureau.org/documents/positions

Environmental risk assessment should be part of the risk-benefit analysis within the authorisation process of chemicals

Possible risk mitigation measures - as part of the authorisation process: Include drinking water relevance as an essential criterion for

authorisation Substitute environmental hazardous substances Apply restrictions for environmental hazardous substances if they

cannot be replaced in a short or medium term Develop quality control for all products with respect to their

environmental hazardousness (eco-labelling) Tackle emerging substances within REACH legislation

DEFINE ACCEPTABLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Prevent and reduce emissions at source – the first priority !

Reduce emissions from point sources and from losses

Provide specific treatment at source (industry, hospitals, etc.)

Educate, motivate and train producers, distributors and consumers

PREVENT AND REDUCE EMISSIONS

Need for more data on effects and fate in the aquatic environment

Collect existing data from research and authorisation, and make them publicly available

Take into account presence of other substances (incl. effect of mixtures) in environmental risk assessment

Monitor compliance and enforcement with legislation

Improve knowledge on: health and environmental impacts life-cycle assessment

IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE

PARTICULAR ACTIONS FOR PHARMACEUTICALS

Eco-classification Green pharmacy Harmonised take-back scheme for unused pharmaceuticals Information of citizens on take-back schemes Separate treatment of highly polluted wastewater

(e.g. urine separation in hospitals and medical practices)

Proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste (e.g. incineration, recycling)

1. Define acceptable environmental impact during the authorisation process of chemicals

2. Prevent and reduce emissions

3. Improve knowledge

!!! End-of-pipe treatment – is only the last option

SUMMARY: EUREAU’s POSITION ON EMERGING

POLLUTANTS

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