Testing comparability of existing and innovative bioassays for water quality assessment
A European-wide exercise
The JRC led a consortium of seventeen research Institutes from eleven countries in EU and associated countries to evaluate the suitability of the current paradigm in environmental risk assessment that considers the risk of single chemicals for assessing water quality. Combined effects of chemical mixtures of concern were measured on different aquatic organisms and different levels of biological organisation using existing and innovative bioassays.
Aquatic organisms in most European surface waters were exposed to many chemical pollutants simultaneously. However, the current paradigm in water quality assessment under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) still considers the effects of single substances instead of evaluating the combined action of environmentally relevant mixtures.The potential effects of combinations of chemicals are equally relevant to the risk assessment of consumer products and of drinking water to humans.
In this EU-wide exercise, we could show that exposure to mixtures of dissimilarity acting substances at concentrations considered environmentally acceptable can exert significant effects on the biota. Therefore, chemical monitoring of a few substances may be insufficient to assess the quality status of water impacted by complex anthropogenic mixtures.
The study highlighted an urgent need to revise methods and paradigms used to assess the safety of chemicals to the environment. Bioassays as part of a multi-tier approach to water quality monitoring can fill the gap between chemical and ecological assessments for a more holistic characterisation of water quality.
Considering the upcoming revision of the WFD in 2019, it is timely to introduce the issue of risk posed by mixtures of pollutants into the discussion table and find innovative ways to assess water quality in a more holistic way than the mere assessment of biological and chemical indicators.
NEGRAO DE CARVALHO Raquel;
NIEGOWSKA Magdalena Zofia;
GOMEZ CORTES Livia;
LETTIERI Teresa;
2019-12-20
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC114143
978-92-79-98270-5 (online),
978-92-79-98271-2 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
1018-5593 (print),
EUR 29505 EN,
OP KJ-NA-29505-EN-N (online),
OP KJ-NA-29505-EN-C (print),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC114143,
10.2760/565375 (online),
10.2760/22962 (print),
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