Screening and risk management solutions for steroidal estrogens in surface and wastewater

Background: The European Commission Implementing Decision EU 2015/495 included three steroidal estrogens, namely 17 alpha-ethinyl estradiol, 170-estradiol, and estrone, in the so-called "watch list" of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The monitoring of these compounds is difficult because the detection limits of the majority of the available analytical methods cannot achieve the very low target concentrations required to meet proposed environmental quality criteria. In 2014, a combined Science-Policy Interface/Chemical Monitoring of Emerging Pollutants project was launched to meet this monitoring challenge. The project involved 24 research organizations and environmental agencies from 12 different countries.