Bioassays are increasingly being implemented for water quality monitoring as targeted chemical analyses are not always sufficient for the detection of all emerging chemicals or transformation products. However, the interpretation of bioassay results remains challenging, in particular because a positive response does not necessarily indicate that there may be an increased risk. For this purpose, effect-based trigger (EBT) values have been introduced as thresholds above which action needs to be undertaken to determine the cause of the response. The goals of this study were to (i) evaluate various approaches used to determine EBT values and (ii) based on the findings, derive human health EBT values for Chemical Activated LUciferase gene eXpression (CALUX) in vitro bioassays used for routine monitoring of water quality in the Netherlands. Finally, (iii) an uncertainty analysis was carried out to determine the protective power of the derived EBT values and the chance that potentially harmful substances might not be detected. EBT values that can be implemented in routine monitoring could be determined for four of eight selected bioassays. These EBT were compared to bioassay results from routine water quality monitoring carried out in the Netherlands. Furthermore, a framework for the calculation and evaluation of derived EBT values for routine application to monitor drinking water and its sources is proposed.

生物检测越来越多地用于水质监测，因为目标化学分析并不总是足以检测所有新兴化学或转化产物。但是，生物测定结果的解释仍然具有挑战性，特别是因为阳性反应不一定表明可能会增加风险。为此，引入了基于效果的触发（EBT）值作为阈值，在此阈值之上需要采取措施来确定响应的原因。这项研究的目标是（i）评估用于确定EBT值的各种方法，以及（ii）基于发现，导出体外化学激活的荧光素酶基因表达（CALUX）的人体健康EBT值在荷兰用于日常水质监测的生物测定法。最后，（iii）进行了不确定性分析，以确定得出的EBT值的保护能力以及可能无法检测到潜在有害物质的可能性。可以为八个选定的生物测定方法中的四个确定可以在常规监测中实施的EBT值。将这些EBT与荷兰常规水质监测的生物测定结果进行了比较。此外，提出了一个计算和评估导出的EBT值的框架，该框架可用于日常监测饮用水及其来源。