Should Transformation Products Change the Way We Manage Chemicals?
Environ Sci Technol
; 58(18): 7710-7718, 2024 May 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38656189
ABSTRACT
When chemical pollutants enter the environment, they can undergo diverse transformation processes, forming a wide range of transformation products (TPs), some of them benign and others more harmful than their precursors. To date, the majority of TPs remain largely unrecognized and unregulated, particularly as TPs are generally not part of routine chemical risk or hazard assessment. Since many TPs formed from oxidative processes are more polar than their precursors, they may be especially relevant in the context of persistent, mobile, and toxic (PMT) and very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) substances, which are two new hazard classes that have recently been established on a European level. We highlight herein that as a result, TPs deserve more attention in research, chemicals regulation, and chemicals management. This perspective summarizes the main challenges preventing a better integration of TPs in these areas (1) the lack of reliable high-throughput TP identification methods, (2) uncertainties in TP prediction, (3) inadequately considered TP formation during (advanced) water treatment, and (4) insufficient integration and harmonization of TPs in most regulatory frameworks. A way forward to tackle these challenges and integrate TPs into chemical management is proposed.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Poluentes Ambientais
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Sci Technol
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha
País de publicação:
Estados Unidos