Selection of substances for the 5th Watch List under the Water Framework Directive

The surface water Watch List (WL) under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a mechanism for collecting high-quality Union-wide monitoring data on emerging pollutants and substances that may pose a significant risk at Union level to or via the aquatic environment, but for which available monitoring data are insufficient to draw conclusions on the actual risk posed. According to Article 8b of the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD Directive 2008/105/EC as amended by Directive 2013/39/EU), the WL should be updated every two years. The obligation to remove substances from the list that have been on it continuously for four years, combined with analysis of the monitoring data from the 4th WL, leads to the conclusion that up to nine new substances could be added to the 5th WL if it is to contain the maximum allowed number of fourteen substances or groups of substances. The JRC defined three criteria for identifying substances for the 5th WL, and based on these criteria, seven substances or groups of substances were selected as most suitable candidates for the 5th WL. They include the industrial product N-1,3-Dimethylbutyl-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) and its transformation product 6PPD-quinone; a group of ten azole fungicides, among them three pharmaceuticals (climbazole, itraconazole and ketoconazole), one biocidal product (propiconazole), five Plant Protection Products (PPP) (bromuconazole, cyazofamid, difenoconazole, mefentrifluconazole, and triticonazole), and epoxiconazole, although it is no longer approved as PPP; two other PPPs used as insecticides (abamectin and etoxazole); a group of tetracycline-class antibiotics (tetracycline and oxytetracycline) and two other pharmaceuticals (fluoxetine and propranolol). An additional substance (ethylhexyl salicylate or octisalate) is proposed to be included in the group of sunscreen agents already included in the 4th WL update (EU/2022/1307).