Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Freshwater
Monitoring and Regulating Water Quality
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are contaminants of emerging environmental and health concern that have been detected in freshwater, wastewater and drinking water. They interfere with the endocrine system in humans and wildlife, and produce adverse effects such as developmental, reproductive, neurological and immune effects. Their presence in water raises concerns for the integrity of ecosystems and biodiversity. Addressing the challenges of EDCs in water is particularly complex due to their ability to trigger adverse effects at very low concentrations, their potency in mixtures with other chemicals, and the vast range of sources and entryways of this group of chemicals into the environment. This report presents new water quality monitoring methods, such as bioassays and non-targeted analysis, that are well equipped to capture the impacts of EDCs in water. These new methods supplement the traditional substance-by-substance chemical analysis of water quality. The report also outlines policy instruments to manage the chemicals’ lifecycle from source to end-of-pipe. It proposes tools and regulations that respond to the negative effects of endocrine disruption, even if the culprit chemical is still unknown. The analysis draws on case studies from OECD countries to provide practical examples and concrete policy actions.
The challenge of endocrine disruptors in freshwater
This publication on endocrine disruption is part of a series on policy responses to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in freshwater. Previous work focused on pharmaceutical residues and microplastics. Building on these earlier publications, this publication focuses on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in freshwater. This publication takes a different approach to water quality regulation: it explores the opportunity to complement a substance-by-substance approach of chemicals management with an effect-based approach, centred around the negative effects of EDCs on humans and wildlife. This chapter characterises the challenge of endocrine disruption in freshwater. It provides a typology of EDCs and their effects on human health, ecology and the economy. It also examines the sources, pathways and sinks of endocrine disrupting chemicals in freshwater. Lastly, this chapter provides an outlook of driversthat increase the future release of endocrine disrupting chemicals in freshwater.
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