On this page, you will find an overview of reference values for assessing the human toxicological and ecotoxicological risk of micropollutants in water bodies. Threshold or guideline values can be used as a reference value. Reference values for surface water, drinking water and groundwater are presented.
The quality of the drinking water in Germany is excellent. Its main source, groundwater, enjoys a high level of protection and should be as free as possible from chemical residues.
In the research project FITWAS (reuse of filter backwash water from the treatment of groundwater for the protection of the drinking water supply), five partners from the fields of research, water supply and industry join the German Environment Agency to analyse methods for reusing filter backwash water produced during drinking water treatment to conserve drinking water reserves.
Through the initiative by UBA, the hazard caused by persistent (degrade only very slowly in the environment) and at the same time polar and "mobile" substances to the sources of our drinking water has been problematised. Below is a selection of media coverage and dissemination from journalist, regulators, scientists, NGOs and legal bodies. This chronological list was last updated July 2020.
Since 2019, the PMT/vPvM criteria have been widely used under the EU´s chemicals legislation REACH to identify and regulate persistent and mobile substances. In fall of 2021 a new research project “ZeroPM” will be initiated aiming at the reduction of Emissions of persistent and mobile substances to better protect the environment and human health from such substances.
Between 2016 and 2019, the UBA carried out several public consultations to ensure a wide agreement on the PMT/vPvM criteria. This led to the publication of the result of the scientific and technical development of PMT/vPvM criteria and guidelines for their assessment under REACH, which were unveiled at the 30th Caracal meeting in 2019 (Doc. CACS/MS/19/2019; CARACAL-30; 01 - 02 July 2019).
Between 2009-2015, the UBA scientifically developed, under the EU´s chemical legislation REACH, new criteria to identify substances which have intrinsic properties that indicate a hazard to the sources of our drinking water. Chemical safety experts and regulators agreed on the need to precautionarily identify such substances of concern. This is considered as the emergence of the PMT/vPvM criteria.
