The chemical pollution crisis severely threatens human and environmental health globally. To tackle this challenge the establishment of an overarching international science–policy body has recently been suggested. We strongly support this initiative based on the awareness that humanity has already likely left the safe operating space within planetary boundaries for novel entities including chemical pollution. Immediate action is essential and needs to be informed by sound scientific knowledge and data compiled and critically evaluated by an overarching science–policy interface body. Major challenges for such a body are (i) to foster global knowledge production on exposure, impacts and governance going beyond data-rich regions (e.g., Europe and North America), (ii) to cover the entirety of hazardous chemicals, mixtures and wastes, (iii) to follow a one-health perspective considering the risks posed by chemicals and waste on ecosystem and human health, and (iv) to strive for solution-oriented assessments based on systems thinking. Based on multiple evidence on urgent action on a global scale, we call scientists and practitioners to mobilize their scientific networks and to intensify science–policy interaction with national governments to support the negotiations on the establishment of an intergovernmental body based on scientific knowledge explaining the anticipated benefit for human and environmental health.

At the request of the European Union Joint Research Centre, a Joint Research Centre draft report on European Union minimum quality requirements for water reuse in agricultural irrigation was reviewed, to determine whether: the methodology used was appropriate, the defined food crop categories were appropriate, the proposed minimum quality requirements were sufficient, and any risks had been overlooked. The European Food Safety Authority recommends that: (1) a full description of the methodology used in reviewing and assessing the literature, regulations and guidelines is provided; (2) there is a separate category for feed crops and pasture; (3) there is explicit mention of the fact that the tolerable level of risk used in the World Health Organization guidelines is formally accepted by European risk managers, and that information is provided on the data supporting the impact of the minimum quality requirements on public and animal health; (4) relevant publications on concentrations, dose-response relationships and disease burden for all the waterborne pathogens in treated wastewater in Europe consulted for the elaboration of this document are explicitly referenced in the document; (5) the quantitative microbial risk assessment outputs used in the document are revised on the basis of more recent information and European data; (6) risk assessment studies should inform whether the applied treatment ensures a sufficient decrease/removal of the hazard(s); (7) full clarity is provided on why specific indicator organisms are recommended for assessing the probability of the presence of pathogens; (8) an inventory of hazards to animal health in urban wastewater, and an explanation of why the proposed minimum quality requirements are considered appropriate to protect animal health, are provided; (9) reasoning on the lack of minimum quality requirements for chemical contaminants is provided; and (10) critical discussion on the importance of the uptake and accumulation of chemical contaminants, including compounds of emerging concern and disinfectant by-products, and the possible consequences for human and animal health, is included.

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