How did you decide what chemicals to look for?
This study focused on addressing a broad range of chemicals that could
make their way into our water resources through a common set of wastewater
sources - household or municipal, agricultural, and industrial. New
laboratory capabilities provided the ability to measure a new group
of extremely water-soluble chemicals, which now could be added to existing
laboratory capabilities. These factors went a long way toward determining
the scope of chemicals to be addressed. Specific chemicals were selected
based partly upon a number of factors, including information on quantities
used nationally, potential human or ecological health effects, suspected
persistence in the environment, the potential to serve as indicators
of specific sources, and compatibility with the specific laboratory
methods used. Most of these chemicals are not commonly monitored across
the nation. Some compounds that fit these criteria, however, could not
be included because specific laboratory methods could not be developed
or reference standards were not available.
