title: Occurrence and removal of organic micropollutants: An overview of the watch list of EU Decision 2015/495.
abstract: Although there are no legal discharge limits for micropollutants into the environment, some regulations have been published in the last few years. Recently, a watch list of substances for European Union-wide monitoring was reported in the Decision 2015/495/EU of 20 March 2015. Besides the substances previously recommended to be included by the Directive 39/2013/EU, namely two pharmaceuticals (diclofenac and the synthetic hormone 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2)) and a natural hormone (17-beta-estradiol (E2)), the first watch list of 10 substances/groups of substances also refers three macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin and erythromycin), other natural hormone (estrone (E1)), some pesticides (methiocarb, oxadiazon, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, acetamiprid and triallate), a UV filter (2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate) and an antioxidant (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) commonly used as food additive. Since little is known about the removal of most of the substances included in the Decision 2015/495/EU, particularly regarding realistic concentrations in aqueous environmental samples, this review aims to: (i) overview the European policy in the water field; (ii) briefly describe the most commonly used conventional and advanced treatment processes to remove micropollutants; (iii) summarize the relevant data published in the last decade, regarding occurrence and removal in aqueous matrices of the 10 substances/groups of substances that were recently included in the first watch list for European Union monitoring (Decision 2015/495/EU); and (iv) highlight the lack of reports concerning some substances of the watch list, the study of un-spiked aquatic matrices and the assessment of transformation by-products.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Nuno F F
authors.initials: NFF
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Manuel F R
authors.initials: MFR
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: adrian@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: Adrián M T
authors.initials: AMT
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis; D002084:Butylated Hydroxytoluene; D002934:Cinnamates / Q000032:analysis; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000592:standards*; D058735:Environmental Policy; D004958:Estradiol / Q000032:analysis; D004970:Estrone / Q000032:analysis; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol / Q000032:analysis; D005062:European Union; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002084:Butylated Hydroxytoluene; D002934:Cinnamates; D004008:Diclofenac; D004958:Estradiol; D004970:Estrone; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol; D010636:Phenols; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C118580:octylmethoxycinnamate
keywords: Advanced oxidation processes; Contaminants of emerging concern; Conventional treatment; Decision 2015/495/EU; Fenton, ozonation and photocatalysis; Membrane technologies