Freshwater ecosystems are today facing multiple pressures from a cocktail of pollutants. They include chemicals, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, invasive species and land management practices. Consequently, the majority of UK rivers fail to have good ecological status. Only 14 per cent of waterways in England, 46 per cent in Wales, 50 per cent in Scotland, and 31 per cent in Northern Ireland made the grade.

Scientists lead new research to improve UK rivers

Freshwater ecosystems are today facing multiple pressures from a cocktail of pollutants. They include chemicals, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, invasive species and land management practices. Consequently, the majority of UK rivers fail to have good ecological status. Only 14 per cent of waterways in England, 46 per cent in Wales, 50 per cent in Scotland, and 31 per cent in Northern Ireland made the grade. Read More
Many communities are forced to confront PFAS contamination in their groundwater. A key hurdle in addressing this harmful group of chemicals lies in unravelling how they move through a region of the environment called the unsaturated zone. A new study by the University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers offers a simplified new way of understanding PFAS movement through this zone, with improved PFAS models.

New PFAS models could show flow through ground

Many communities are forced to confront PFAS contamination in their groundwater. A key hurdle in addressing this harmful group of chemicals lies in unravelling how they move through a region of the environment called the unsaturated zone. A new study by the University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers offers a simplified new way of understanding PFAS movement through this zone, with improved PFAS models. Read More