Historically, monitoring programs were confined to chlorinated industrial and agricultural chemicals, such as PCBs and organochlorine pesticides. The past two decades have seen a surge in the discovery of new chemical classes and functionalities modifying previous notions of what may be persistent, bioaccumlative and toxic (PBT). Two examples are polybrominated diphenyl ethers and perfluoroalkyl acids. Originally, both classes were considered too labile or non-hydrophobic, respectively, to accumulate in biological systems. After their discovery in biological systems and observed environmental ubiquity, government agencies were prompted to consider the possibility that other, non-monitored, chemical classes were also causing deleterious effects on environmental systems, and inevitably human health. The current challenge is to identify the most effective method to proactively screen for new chemicals, identify and evaluate the importance of unknowns and finally quantify how a new chemical is transported through systems. The current presentation will discuss the contemporary PBT discovery methods and how the structure of the monitoring program is evolving to include emerging chemical exploration.

Proactive environmental monitoring 2: A critical evaluation of emerging chemical discovery methodologies in current monitoring programs

248th National Meeting (2014)

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