ENVIRONMENTAL scientists at The James Hutton Institute have launched the first nationwide test on drugs and microplastics entering Scottish waters.
The Scottish Government funded study is testing for over 60 chemicals, from pesticides to antidepressants, to help reveal what rivers and specific contaminants need closer monitoring.
The study is initially focusing on the urban River Dee and and rural River Ugie in Aberdeenshire before being spread across Scotland’s wider river catchments over two years.
The James Hutton Instititue hopes that creating a national baseline will help identify what chemicals and rivers need further examination, and predict the impact these chemicals will have on Scottish rivers in terms of land use and climate change.
The findings will help inform decisions on which medicines and chemicals should be used to limit enviromental impact in the future.
Research scientist Dr Jessica Gomez-Banderas said: “There is concern about the increasing mix of pharmaceuticals, household chemicals and microplastics going into our rivers and the impacts these could have, from impacting animal reproductive systems to spreading disease resistance in the enviroment.
“But we don’t know enough about how much of these contaminants are going into our rivers at a national and catchment scale.
“They come from a variety of sources, from us, through wastewater, farming and other activities, while climate change could exacerbate the effects they have.”
The project will test for 42 of the more common pharmaceuticals (usually drugs that pass through humans into the sewage treatment process or from farm animals onto the land), 16 pesticides and six other common household chemicals known to disrupt hormones.
