Priority contaminants in drinking water

<p dir="ltr">A comprehensive database of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) was compiled to support this research project. The database contains a comprehensive list of EOCs of concern reported in literature, with associated information of relevance to the risk assessment thereof in a drinking water matrix, international and national regulatory frameworks, toxicological profiles, and physicochemical properties. The compilation of potential contaminants relevant to South African drinking water systems was achieved through a systematic review of recently published scientific literature. This review, spanning from 2012 to 2024, encompassed both international and national publications concerning EOCs detected in surface and drinking water systems. Literature searches were primarily conducted using the Google search engine, with journal articles identified and accessed via Google Scholar and the University of Pretoria's library services.</p><p dir="ltr">Regulatory frameworks and established standards for each contaminant were assessed by consulting prominent international and national guidelines. These included the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, the European Union (EU) Drinking Water Directive, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) drinking water regulations, and the South African National Standard (SANS 241:2015) for drinking water. Toxicological data and physicochemical properties for each contaminant were systematically gathered from authoritative databases such as the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and commercial chemical suppliers like Sigma-Aldrich.</p>