The occurrence and impacts of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in the aquatic environment have gained widespread attention over the past two decades. Due to large number of potential contaminants, monitoring campaigns, treatment plants, and proposed regulations should preferentially focus on specific pollutants with the highest potential for ecological and human health effects. In the present study, a multi-criteria screening approach based on hazard and exposure potentials was developed for prioritiza-tion of 405 unregulated EOCs already present in Chinese surface water. Hazard potential, exposure poten-tial, and risk quotients for ecological and human health effects were quantitatively analyzed and used to screen contaminants. The hazard potential was defined by contaminant persistence, bioaccumulation, ecotoxicity, and human health effects; similarly, the exposure potential was a function of contaminant concentration and detection frequency. In total, 123 compounds passed the preselection process, which involved a priority index equal to the normalized hazard potential multiplied by the normalized exposure potential. Based on the prioritization scheme, 11 compounds were identified as top-priority, and 37 chemicals were defined as high-priority. The results obtained by the priority index were compared with four other prioritization schemes based on exposure potential, hazard potential, or risk quotients for eco-logical effects or human health. The priority index effectively captured and integrated the results from the more simplistic prioritization schemes. Based on identified data gaps, four uncertainty categories were classified to recommend: ① regular monitoring, derivation of environmental quality standards, and development of control strategies; ② increased monitoring; ③ fortified hazard assessment; and④ increased efforts to collect occurrence and toxicity data. Overall, 20 pollutants were recommended as priority EOCs. The prioritized list of contaminants provides the necessary information for authoritative regulations to monitor, control, evaluate, and manage the risks of environmentally-relevant EOCs in Chinese surface water.

Mengmeng Zhong;Tielong Wang;Wenxing Zhao;Jun Huang;Bin Wang;Lee Blaney;Qingwei Bu;Gang Yu

Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control,State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control(SKLESPC),School of Environment,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084,China;Department of Chemical,Biochemical,and Environmental Engineering,University of Maryland Baltimore County,Baltimore,MD 21250,USA;School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering,China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing,Beijing 100083,China

工程（英文）

[1]Mengmeng Zhong;Tielong Wang;Wenxing Zhao;Jun Huang;Bin Wang;Lee Blaney;Qingwei Bu;Gang Yu-.Emerging Organic Contaminants in Chinese Surface Water:Identification of Priority Pollutants)[J].工程（英文）,2022(04):111-125

Contaminants,EOCs,prioritiza,unregulated,preselection

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