A call for international harmonization and collaboration in scientific derivation of environmental quality benchmarks for protecting aquatic ecosystems from chemical contaminants

Abstract

Environmental quality benchmarks (EQB) such as water and sediment quality guidelines for chemical contaminants are indispensable tools for effective monitoring, risk assessment and regulation of chemical contaminants with a view to protecting aquatic ecosystems and associated natural resources. To promote and advance the scientific derivation of EQB, we held the first and second International Conferences on Deriving Environmental Quality Standards for the Protection of Aquatic Ecosystems (EQSPAE) in Hong Kong in December 2011 and June 2016, respectively as well as a session on EQB derivation and application at SETAC Europe Meeting held in Rome, Italy in May 2018. Through these meetings, we have identified the knowledge gaps, challenges and problems in this research area. In this talk, we will present our key findings, make recommendations for solving the problems, and call for international harmonization and collaboration in accelerating the derivation of EQBs for more chemical substances.