Contaminants of Emerging Concern
Potomac River Basin Drinking Water Source Protection Partnership
What are they?
Contaminants of emerging concern are chemicals or materials in water, soil, river sediments, or air — typically present at very low concentrations — and which may be perceived as a potential or real threat to human health or the environment. A contaminant may also be of emerging concern because of the ability for it to be detected by new test methods or by the discovery of a new source or a new pathway to humans.
Many pharmaceuticals and personal care products detected in the environment can be considered contaminants of emerging concern since they lack published health standards. However, the word “emerging” used in the context of contaminants detected at low levels in water should not be confused with the word “emergency” or be taken to mean that such detection is cause for alarm.
Some of the terms used to refer to different classes of emerging contaminants include:
- Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
- Organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs)
- Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
- Microconstituents
- Nanomaterials
- Algal toxins
- Harmful algal blooms (HABs)
Why are we concerned?
New analytical techniques have been developed that allow scientists to measure very low levels of numerous chemicals in water and other media.
There is mounting evidence that even low levels of some contaminants of emerging concern in the environment may affect wildlife, sometimes causing non-lethal but adverse ecological health effects. Although no direct adverse impact on human health has been established from consuming drinking water treated to current EPA standards, the presence of very low levels of unregulated contaminants in the source waters used for drinking water supply can be a cause for concern.
Find out what the Partnership is doing to address contaminants of emerging concern in the basin.
Learn more
Many DWSPP utility members have provided information on pharmaceuticals detected in their source waters:
- Fairfax Water
- WSSC
- DC Water (customer of Washington Aqueduct)
Relevant Research and Trainings:
- Emerging Contaminants in landfill leachate and their sustainable management, A. Ramakrishnan et al., July 2014
- Reproductive health indicators of fishes from Pennsylvania watersheds: association with chemicals of emerging concern, V.S. Blazer et al., June 2014
- Featured Collection: Contaminants of Emerging Concern II, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, April 2014
- Drinking Water Sampling Procedures for PFAS, Training for U.S. EPA Region 3, December 2020