27 Mar 2025

Image description: Blue car sharply turning, spraying mud and water. Photo by Nikky Almon / Pexels.   Data obtained by ENDS through Freedom of Information legislation has revealed the locations of outfalls which are classed in the National Highway’s Water Quality Plan as having a potentially ‘high risk’ or ‘very high risk’ of channelling polluted […]

22 Jan 2025

A cross-border investigation by Unearthed into forever chemicals was released this week, turning up a number of interesting findings into a toxic chemicals crisis we’re only beginning to understand. The reporting effort – 46 journalists and 18 experts across 16 countries – has so far detailed the jaw-dropping cost of cleaning up these toxic forever […]

11 Dec 2024

Concerns about PFAS pollution have increased in many European countries but comprehensive monitoring data are often limited. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing ‘PFAS pollution in European waters’, shows that most monitored rivers, transitional and coastal waters and a large part of lakes in Europe are polluted with at least one of the many extremely […]

21 Aug 2024

About 90kg (200lbs) of dead fish have been removed from a canal after a sodium cyanide leak in Walsall that experts fear could have “devastated the aquatic ecosystem” in the area. A 1km stretch of the waterway remains closed to the public after the chemical spill from a metal finishing company, Anochrome. The spill was declared a major […]

13 Aug 2024

Almost 500 different chemicals, some of which are banned, have been found in various mixtures across all 171 river and groundwater catchments tested in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency, analysed by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations. More than half of them are classified as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic […]

14 May 2024

A report launched by Stormwater Shepherds and CIWEM shines a light on the toxic cocktail of pollutants that runs off the UK’s road network and into our rivers and water sources every time it rains. The pollution comes from tyre particles, fuel spills and other vehicle fluids, road surface fragments, sediment and herbicides. These contain […]

23 Apr 2024

Research in the Science Advances journal has published results showing significant deposition of PFAAs from ocean sea spray. Forever chemicals Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are synthetic organic chemicals found globally in the environment due to their extensive use in various consumer and industrial applications and are often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’. Perfluoroalkyl acids […]