{"id":41153,"date":"2024-10-23T13:09:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T11:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/56f8d641-293b-4d20-a5a6-1885d996ceb5"},"modified":"2024-10-23T14:26:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T12:26:40","slug":"uk-rivers-test-positive-for-toxic-cocktail-of-pesticides-caffeine-nicotine-and-antidepressants","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/uk-rivers-test-positive-for-toxic-cocktail-of-pesticides-caffeine-nicotine-and-antidepressants\/","title":{"rendered":"UK rivers test positive for toxic cocktail of pesticides, caffeine, nicotine and antidepressants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anti-inflammatory drugs, pain relievers and untreated sewage were also detected in Earthwatch’s annual river survey. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 23 October 2024 at 11:09 AM<\/p>

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How clean and healthy\u00a0is your local stream or river? And how do you find out? That\u2019s one of the questions Earthwatch Europe set out to answer when it established its\u00a0Great UK WaterBlitz<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year.<\/strong><\/p>

The idea was a simple \u2013\u00a0equip ordinary people with testing kits and ask them to take samples from any watercourse they choose. These are sent to Imperial College London to test for the presence of harmful nutrients such nitrates and phosphates and a wide variety of other chemicals, including caffeine, nicotine, antidepressants, anti-inflammatory drugs, pain relievers and pesticides.<\/p>

The first WaterBlitz took place in June this year, then another in September, where more than 5,000 citizen scientists braved the wettest weekend of the year (at that time) to collect their samples, and Earthwatch can now reveal the results.<\/p>

Waterblitz provides a nationwide snapshot, over a given weekend, of the state of freshwater bodies in the UK\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Overall, the regions of the country with streams and lakes in the poorest state were in the Thames and Anglian river catchments, though the county of Rutland in the Midlands was the worst county \u2013\u00a0none of the samples collected there were acceptable, under guidelines drawn up by the government\u2019s water regulator, the Environment Agency, for levels of nitrates or phosphates.\u00a0<\/p>

Best in show were West Glamorgan in South Wales and Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland \u2013 for both of these areas, all the samples tested were acceptable.<\/p>

\u201cOur Waterblitz provides an excellent snapshot across the entire nation over a given weekend of the state of our freshwater bodies,\u201d says Earthwatch\u2019s director of science Dr Sasha Woods. \u201cThis gives us a national picture of freshwater quality that just can\u2019t be achieved by [state] monitoring bodies in the same way.\u201d<\/p>

Dr Leon Barron, reader in environmental sciences at Imperial College London, says programmes such as the WaterBlitz allow members of the public to engage with the issue of water quality in a meaningful way. \u201cThey can take the information they learn and talk to their families and their communities and try to effect change where change can be made,\u201d he adds.<\/p>

Nitrates and phosphates largely come from agricultural fertilisers and untreated sewage, and they impact freshwater through a process called eutrophication \u2013\u00a0they create an excessive nutrient load which precipitates uncontrolled plant and algae growth, leading to increased bacterial activity that then causes oxygen depletion.<\/p>

In the worst cases, it can lead to huge die-offs of fish and other aquatic animals.<\/p>

Many other chemicals in our waterways are also harmful. Caffeine \u2013\u00a0largely excreted by people who consume caffeinated drinks \u2013 was found in every sample. Its impacts are not well understood, but the report released by Earthwatch suggests its \u201cdischarge into natural waters may add to the negative impacts of other environmental factors, such as temperature change.\u201d<\/p>

Caffeine \u2013\u00a0largely excreted by people who consume caffeinated drinks \u2013 was found in every sample.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Barron says that you see changes in metabolic activity in fish as a result of caffeine contamination which can affect reproduction, development and even lead to mortality events. But he adds: \u201cThe chemicals we are seeing in our rivers don\u2019t necessarily lead to fish kills, but they disrupt the balance of nature so the ecosystem doesn\u2019t function in the way it should.\u201d<\/p>

The Government has promised to tackle the crisis in our rivers, and\u00a0legislation<\/a>\u00a0to be introduced into this Parliament will take action on water company executives\u2019 bonuses and make monitoring of sewage outlets mandatory.<\/p>

\u201cThe move to greater transparency is a step in the right direction,\u201d says Woods. \u201cBut there\u2019s no quick fix to this problem and it\u2019s not something we can just legislate our way out of.\u201d Instead, it will take all stakeholders \u2013\u00a0the government, water companies, farmers and landowners, communities, environmental NGOs and scientists \u2013\u00a0to all work together.<\/p>

According to Barron, there\u2019s now a huge impetus because of how public opinion has changed in the past decade. \u201cThat\u2019s evident from the number of people who signed up to the Earthwatch programme \u2013\u00a0myself included. I did it with my kids, and thought it was so good, I had to do more.\u201d<\/p>

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up now to be a\u00a0WaterBlitzer<\/a>!\u00a0<\/p>

More stories about the environment<\/strong><\/p>