Occurrence of organic micropollutants in drinking water: A review of scientific literature in the scope of the EU Directive 2020/2184.

Organic micropollutants (MPs) have been detected in various water matrices in the range of ng L-1 to μg L-1. These MPs pose significant public health and environmental concerns due to their persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation potential. Ultimately, they may reach potable water. The European Union has recently implemented Directive 2020/2184 to tackle this issue and to ensure the quality of water intended for human consumption. In particular, more rigorous parametric values were established to minimize the impacts of pollution on human health. This review is the first comparative study of the occurrence of a broad range of organic MPs defined in the Drinking Water (DW) Directive and its Watchlist. Thus, it includes 210 articles published since 2022 regarding the worldwide occurrence in DW of the following organic pollutants defined in the DW Directive: acrylamide, benzene, bisphenol A (BPA), 1,2-dichloroethane, epichlorohydrin, haloacetic acids (HAAs), microcystin-LR, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene, trihalomethanes (THMs) and vinyl chloride. Analytical methodologies are summarized and discussed for each class of organic MP, and the reported concentrations of contaminants determined in DW were compared to the guidelines in Directive 2020/2184. This review also demonstrates that occurrence in DW of some MPs was largely overlooked in recent years, despite being mentioned in the DW Directive, and the need for an uniformization of analytical procedures for DW.