1. What is an emerging pollutant?

Until the beginning of the ’90 non-polar hazardous compounds, i.e. persistent organic pollutants (POP) and heavy metals, were in the focus of interest and awareness as priority pollutants, and consequently were part of intensive monitoring programs. Today, these compounds are less relevant for the industrialized countries since a drastic reduction of emission has been achieved due to the adoption of appropriate measures and elimination of the dominant pollution sources.

However, the emission of so-called “emerging” or “new” unregulated contaminants has emerged as an environmental problem and there is a widespread consensus that this kind of contamination may require legislative intervention. This group is mainly composed of products used in large quantities in everyday life, such as human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, personal care products, surfactants and surfactants’...