New practice for assessment and management of risks associated with unwanted chemical substances in water
KEY POINTS- Water Wise Societies
- Impact Innovation
Project overview
Participants
More related research
Global goals
- 3. Good health and well-being
- 6. Clean ater and satitation
- 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Short summary
Potential risks of chemical pollutants in water need to be addressed. There is currently a lack of guidance on how to address new/unknown micropollutants and mixing effects. This creates major challenges for the water sector.
Our long-term vision is to establish a new practice for the assessment and management of chemical risks in water to better protect the environment and human health.
The project aims to initiate a cross-sectoral dialogue to map the current state and development needs in the assessment of chemical risks in natural and engineered water systems.
We approach the issue from three perspectives: analytical techniques, risk assessment and regulation. Through these discussions, we will identify gaps and barriers, summarise good examples and propose a way forward to test and implement this new practice.
1. Methods for detecting and characterising chemical pollutants: analytical techniques for detecting unwanted chemical substances in water and their applicability and integration into risk assessment.
2. Chemical risk assessment: current risk assessment methods for chemicals, their implementation, impact of directives and data needs and challenges.
3. Legislation and communication: shortcomings in chemicals legislation, current government and water company practices and visions for future support in chemical risk assessment and decision-making, including how to inform the public.
Project participants
Helene Ejhed and Daniel Hellström (Norrvatten); Johan Fång (Stockholm Water and Waste); Maria Takman (Syvab); Karin Wiberg, Lutz Ahrens, Foon Yin Lai, Carolina Vogs (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences); Thomas Pettersson and Erik Kristiansson (Chalmers University of Technology); Mikael Gustavsson (Gothenburg University); Marlene Ågerstrand (Stockholm University); Erik Westerberg and Johan Rosén (Swedish Food Administration); Elin Lavonen (BioCell Analytica and Aalto University); Gunnar Thorsén (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute); Ekaterina Sokolova (Uppsala University).