National parks rivers polluted with more drugs than in London

Rivers in the Peak District and on Exmoor have drug pollution levels higher than those in London, a study has found.
Research by the University of York and the Rivers Trust found pharmaceuticals at 52 of the 54 locations monitored across all ten national parks in England. Sampling took place at each spot twice, once in the summer and once in the winter of 2022.
A wide range of contaminants were detected, including antidepressants, painkillers, antibiotics and diabetes medication.
Exmoor was found to have the highest concentration of pharmaceuticals in the water tested, with an average concentration of 3,461 nanograms per litre (ng/l) detected in the summer of 2022. This was followed by the Peak District (1,957 ng/l) and the New Forest (1,876 ng/l).
While the level of pharmaceutical pollution was generally found to be lower in national parks than in urban waterways, some rivers in the Peak District and on Exmoor were found to have concentrations higher even than in London.
At some sites in those two national parks, the concentrations of antibiotics were high enough to contribute to antibiotic resistance, which poses an increasing threat to human health, researchers said. This is concerning for anyone enjoying wild swimming, canoeing and other watersports.
According to the study, pharmaceutical substances are most often released to the natural environment through urine, but could end up there due to improper disposal of unused medicine or the use of medicines in animals.
The researchers said the high concentrations may be because wastewater treatment plants in national parks often have older and less sophisticated systems, and these areas have seasonal population surges from tourism. Remoter places are also more likely to have septic tanks and other more basic water storage and treatment facilities.
They also said national parks also often have “low flow” rivers, which means there is less water to dilute the pollutants coming from wastewater treatment plants. As a result, the concentration of pharmaceuticals can be higher than in rivers with a faster flow of water.
The study focused on ten national parks, covering almost 10 per cent of the land area in England. With a population of about 320,000 permanent residents, these places provide a focus for recreation for about 90 million visitors a year.
The most frequently detected active pharmaceutical ingredients were caffeine, carbamazepine (an anticonvulsant used to treat epilepsy), metformin (used to treat type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome), and the antihistamines fexofenadine and cetirizine, which were detected at more than 60 per cent of the sampling locations.
The Lake District, South Downs, New Forest, Peak District and Exmoor were all found to have pharmaceuticals at levels that are potentially harmful to fish, invertebrates and algae.
Although sampling occurred during a period of very low river flow, which would have meant the drugs were less diluted, scientists said the study highlights the challenge that will arise from the predicted increase in the frequency of droughts.
Ian Townsend, an evidence and engagement officer at the Westcountry Rivers Trust, said: “In this highly medicated world the contamination of rivers, lakes and streams with pharmaceutical residues is a truly global phenomenon and even the notionally pristine rivers of our precious national parks are clearly not immune.
“With watercourses already under enormous pressure from factors such as agricultural run-off, wastewater discharges, road run-off and climate change impacts, the fact that some of the medicines detected in this study were present at concentrations known to have adverse effects on aquatic life is bad news.”
Professor Alistair Boxall, an environmental scientist at the University of York, said: “Our national parks are true hotspots for biodiversity and essential for our physical health and mental wellbeing, so we need to act swiftly to protect these irreplaceable environments and ensure the health of wildlife and people alike.”
Rob Collins, director of policy and science at the Rivers Trust, said that while greater investment in traditional wastewater treatment is needed, more natural treatment technologies such as wetlands can also play an important role in more rural environments.
Collins also highlighted the importance of enforcing new government rules on maintaining septic tanks.
The Environment Agency said: “We are working closely with other regulators and the water industry on a series of chemical investigation programmes to better understand how pharmaceutical compounds affect our water environment.
“We have developed an early warning system to identify contaminants of emerging concern to ensure any potential risks are considered to surface waters, groundwater and soils.
“We are also collaborating with the pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicines industry via a UK cross-government platform for discussing and exchanging knowledge on pharmaceuticals in the environment.”
A spokesman for Water UK, which represents the water industry, said: “The UK risks falling behind the rest of Europe which is tackling pharmaceutical residues in the environment with new targets and funding from drug companies. Water companies have proposed a record £105 billion investment which includes reducing pharmaceutical residues.”