Board for Detection and Assessment of Pharmaceutical Drug Residues in Drinking Water - Capacity Building for Water Management in CE
Water is one of the most valuable raw materials for today&#39;s civilization and one of the most important factors that determine the quality of our lives. Technological development, on the one hand, plays a significant role in various forms of environmental pollution, and hence for water. On the other hand, scientific development can detect and combat these risks. This includes monitoring of the occurrence of recently unknown forms of contamination caused by micropollutants. Recent research shows that the aquatic environment, from which we produce potable water in Europe, contains anthropogenic substances - until a few years ago, their presence was unknown and there are still considerable knowledge gaps. This is where boDEREC-CE sets an innovative approach by implementing pilot sites in CE countries to monitor emerging contaminants (EC), above all pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP). PPCP includes any products used in personal healthcare, cosmetics, and medicated products, many compounds of which are broken down and degraded, many are not, and could persist in soil and reclaimed water, creating potential hazards to environmental and human life. This lack of knowledge needs to be tackled by developing one common course of action and policy on EU level. Thus, boDEREC-CE is focused not only on the study of PPCP behaviour, particular attention is paid to assessing the effectiveness of attenuating this specific type of pollution, using different types of drinking water treatment technologies: the main output is an innovative model based decision making tool, which, given future legal thresholds, can be used as an early warning tool. This tool will be tested under different conditions at waterworks. Furthermore, activities will be started to inform public about measures to reduce the use and waste of PPCP. By the formation of a transnational board, research institutions and waterworks will continue networking for defining standards and guideline values.