The Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC) is currently under development as a joint research and innovation programme to strengthen the scientific basis for chemical risk assessment in the EU. The plan is to bring chemical risk assessors and managers together with scientists to accelerate method development and the production of necessary data and knowledge, and to facilitate the transition to next-generation evidence-based risk assessment, a non-toxic environment and the European Green Deal. The NORMAN Network is an independent, well-established and competent network of more than 80 organisations in the field of emerging substances and has enormous potential to contribute to the implementation of the PARC partnership. NORMAN stands ready to provide expert advice to PARC, drawing on its long experience in the development, harmonisation and testing of advanced tools in relation to chemicals of emerging concern and in support of a European Early Warning System to unravel the risks of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and close the gap between research and innovation and regulatory processes. In this commentary we highlight the tools developed by NORMAN that we consider most relevant to supporting the

A high-rate algae pond (HRAP) was tested as a second loop of water treatment in a recirculating fish rearing system to reduce water requirements and nutrient discharge levels. Three duplicated groups of sea bass (mean initial body weight 35±11 g) were reared under different system conditions (flow-through system, recirculating system and recirculating system with HRAP) for 1 year. Fish survival rate was higher in the system with HRAP, and their mean body weight was statistically higher (p<0.05) during the month of maximal climatic conditions for algae photosynthesis. After 266 days of experiment, mean fish weight was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the flow-through system than in the recirculating systems. Final fish weight was 15% higher in the flow-through system than in recirculating systems and was related to a higher daily-ingested food. The comparison of mean annual nutrient concentrations in the recirculating systems gives a statistically significant reduction of 25% of nitrogen (p<0.01) and 9% of phosphates (p<0.01) due to the HRAP. Absorption of nitrate form is responsible for nitrogen removal and is related to climatic conditions for algae growth. The phosphate precipitation at high pH (above 8) was not considered. The maximal removal rates were 0.5±0.2 g N m−2 day−1 and 0.03±0.02 g P m−2 day−1 for nitrates and phosphates, respectively, and were obtained during the optimal climatic conditions and the shortest algae harvesting frequency. These results are favourable to complete reuse of the HRAP treated water, all year long, in the recirculating rearing systems. In order to improve nitrate and phosphate removal rates, a periodic harvesting of algae is necessary and a higher water inflow in HRAP should partly make up for inorganic carbon depletion in high nitrate and phosphate effluents.

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The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was first reported in March 2020. Over the subsequent months, the potential for wastewater surveillance to contribute to COVID-19 mitigation programmes has been the focus of intense national and international research activities, gaining the attention of policy makers and the public. As a new application of an established methodology, focused collaboration between public health practitioners and wastewater researchers is essential to developing a common understanding on how, when and where the outputs of this non-invasive community-level approach can deliver actionable outcomes for public health authorities. Within this context, the NORMAN SCORE “SARS-CoV-2 in sewage” database provides a platform for rapid, open access data sharing, validated by the uploading of 276 data sets from nine countries to-date. Through offering direct access to underpinning meta-data sets (and describing its use in data interpretation), the NORMAN SCORE database is a resource for the development of recommendations on minimum data requirements for wastewater pathogen surveillance. It is also a tool to engage public health practitioners in discussions on use of the approach, providing an opportunity to build mutual understanding of the demand and supply for data and facilitate the translation of this promising research application into public health practice.

Ambient concentrations, congener patterns and multi-media distribution of PCDD/Fs and PCBs were determined in air, water, sediment and mussels in a semi-enclosed marine ecosystem (Thau lagoon, France). Sigma2,3,7,8-PCDD/F and sigma7ICES PCB air concentrations (0.2-1.4 and 31-57 pg m(-3), respectively) were typical of rural areas. Concentrations in the water column were very low for PCDD/Fs (163-476 fg L(-1)) and low for PCBs (138-708 pg L(-1)). PCDD/F and PCB concentrations found in surface sediment (0.15-1.6 and 2.5-33 ng g(-1) d.w., respectively) and mussel (13-21 pg g(-1) d.w. and 10-39 ng g(-1) d.w., respectively) were medium levels. PCDD/F congener patterns observed in air, water particulate phase and sediments were similar suggesting direct coupling among these compartments and atmospheric inputs of PCDD/Fs into the lagoon. Conversely, for the same set of samples, similar patterns were not observed for PCBs in the mentioned compartments.