Survey of research undertaken by European geoscience partners of GeoERA Groundwater on contaminants of emerging concern in groundwater

This work was undertaken as part of the HOVER project, within the GeoERA programme of research. The purpose was to gain an overview of any work previously undertaken on organic compounds of emerging concern (CECs) in groundwater by members of the GeoERA HOVER project team. HOVER partners were asked to complete a brief questionnaire which covered their familiarity with the topic, whether their organisations held any relevant data and some more specific questions, e.g. about compounds studied. The overall response rate from the 35 organisations contacted was 86%. The results showed a range of familiarity with the topic. Fourteen of the organisations contacted hold data on organic CECs. Eleven organisations reported that they had undertaken work in this field in collaboration with partner organisations, while just 5 reported such work without partners. The most common reason for undertaking such studies was for general background surveys. Some organisations have focussed on particular types of compound (e.g. pharmaceuticals) while others have analysed for a wide range of compound categories.