Green Week 2012 EUREAU position on emerging pollutants in the water cycle

Transcription

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

2 A WORD ABOUT EUREAU European umbrella federation of national water and wastewater associations representing about 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

3 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

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

5 EUREAU s PERSPECTIVE 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

6 CONSUMER S PERCEPTION Nature 424, 5 (2003)

7 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

8 EUREAU POSITION PAPER Proposed key-actions Define acceptable environmental impact within authorisation process Prevent and reduce emissions Improve knowledge issued on

9 DEFINE ACCEPTABLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Environmental risk assessment should be part of the riskbenefit 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

10 PREVENT AND REDUCE EMISSIONS 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

11 IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE 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

12 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)

13 SUMMARY: EUREAU s POSITION ON EMERGING POLLUTANTS 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

14 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION RUE DU LUXEMBOURG BRUSSELS BELGIUM T SECRETARIAT@EUREAU.ORG