Investigation of Freshwater Quality Criteria and Its Perspective in China

Freshwater quality criteria (FWQC) are essential scientific thresholds established to protect human health and aquatic ecosystems, serving as the foundation for water quality standards, environmental risk management, and pollution control. The latest research advancements were summarized, including the screening of priority pollutants for FWQC and the theory and methodology for environmental criteria in China in the last decade. The potential work has been meticulously analyzed and discussed concerning FWQC to be conducted in the short-term future. The possible prioritized list of pollutants for FWQC should be concerned with including nine categories of heavy metal ions, three categories of non-metal ions, and five categories of organic compounds in the short-term future research. The guidelines for deriving FWQC for the protection of human health for organoleptic effects and for sediment need to be modified and emphasized to ensure the safety of drinking water sources, address issues related to black and odorous surface water, and protect the biodiversity of benthic organisms. Toxicity data, water quality parameters, exposure data, and the geographical distribution of freshwater species should be systematically collected to support the development of FWQC in China. The potential applications of FWQC were also explored in the evaluation and formulation of WQS, ecological risk assessments, and the management of environmental emergencies and damage assessments to support environmental protection and management in China.