Guidance document on the impact of water treatment processes on residues of active substances or their metabolites in water abstracted for the production of drinking water

EFSA Journal · 19 authors

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This document provides a tiered framework for risk assessors to evaluate how water treatment processes affect pesticide residues in drinking water sources. It outlines methods to identify potential public health concerns from transformation products formed during water treatment.

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This guidance document presents a tiered framework for risk assessment of active substance (AS) residues or their metabolites from plant protection and biocidal products in water abstracted for drinking water production. The framework focuses on common European Union water treatment methods. It describes approaches, including experimental methods, to assess whether harmful transformation products (TPs) may form during water treatment and how to evaluate the impact of exposure to these TPs on human and animal health. The document integrates weight-of-evidence and alternative methods to minimize vertebrate testing. It details a geospatial analysis methodology using river Strahler Order, buffer zones, and land-use data to identify areas where pesticide input may occur.

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guidelines

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public health

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10461463

Guidance document on the impact of water treatment processes on residues of active substances or their metabolites in water abstracted for the production of drinking water

EFSA Journal

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ABSTRACT

Abstract This guidance document provides a tiered framework for risk assessors and facilitates risk managers in making decisions concerning the approval of active substances (AS) that are chemicals in plant protection products (PPPs) and biocidal products, and authorisation of the products. Based on the approaches presented in this document, a conclusion can be drawn on the impact of water treatment processes on residues of the AS or its metabolites in surface water and/or groundwater abstracted for the production of drinking water, i.e. the formation of transformation products (TPs). This guidance enables the identification of actual public health concerns from exposure to harmful compounds generated during the processing of water for the production of drinking water, and it focuses on water treatment methods commonly used in the European Union (EU). The tiered framework determines whether residues from PPP use or residues from biocidal product use can be present in water at water abstraction locations. Approaches, including experimental methods, are described that can be used to assess whether harmful TPs may form during water treatment and, if so, how to assess the impact of exposure to these water treatment TPs (tTPs) and other residues including environmental TPs (eTPs) on human and domesticated animal health through the consumption of TPs via drinking water. The types of studies or information that would be required are described while avoiding vertebrate testing as much as possible. The framework integrates the use of weight‐of‐evidence and, when possible alternative (new approach) methods to avoid as far as possible the need for additional testing.

CITATION EXPORT

Roberta Hofman‐Caris, Milou Dingemans, Astrid Reus et al.. Guidance document on the impact of water treatment processes on residues of active substances or their metabolites in water abstracted for the production of drinking water. EFSA Journal. (2023). https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8194

AUTHORS

19 · 0 CENTRES

Roberta Hofman‐Caris, Milou Dingemans, Astrid Reus, Sanah Majid Shaikh, Julian Muñoz Sierra, Ursula Karges, Tim aus der Beek, Eugénia Nogueiro, Christopher Lythgo, Juan Manuel Parra Morte, Maria Bastaki, Rositsa Serafimova, Anja Friel, Daniele Court Marques, Andreas Uphoff, Lucie Bielska, Claudio Putzu, Laura Ruggeri, Paschalina Papadaki