Publisher's Synopsis
Analytical technology has made it possible to detect and quantify nearly any compound known to humankind at diminishingly minute concentrations in water. Although the earliest reports of pharmaceuticals and steroid hormones in water date back nearly four decades, it is only within the past decade that the subject has come to the forefront of scientific and public attention. Today, we know definitively that trace levels of pharmaceuticals, potential EDCs, and other emerging contaminants do occur in source water, and to a lesser extent, in finished drinking water. Based on research thus far, it appears that many conventional and advanced treatment processes will greatly reduce the concentrations of these compounds. Nevertheless, considering the continued advancements in analytical technologies, today's non-detectable contaminants will be tomorrow's emerging contaminants. If presence/absence becomes our litmus test for risk and subsequent actions, treatment technology will be increasingly, and perhaps unnecessarily, costly and energy intensive. This is an especially important consideration due to the energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions of advanced treatment. For these reasons, it is of utmost importance to determine human health-based screening levels from which meaningful treatment goals and analytical detection limits can be established.