All living things, from bacteria to blue whales, have DNA in their cells. DNA provides the blueprint for life, directing how organisms grow, reproduce, and live. Since DNA gives a unique genetic code for every species on Earth, we can …
Our blog on 1 February explained how we approach monitoring, sampling and testing of bathing waters and our approach to keeping public informed and warned when there are short term risks of pollution which bathers would rightly want to be …
To celebrate Plastic Free July, Victoria Prowse and Helen Powers from the East Midlands Regulated Industry team write about their recent talk at the Plastics Future 2023 conference at Plymouth University.
Metal mines played a major part in Britain’s history, but these abandoned mines are the largest source of metals to our rivers and seas which can seriously harm aquatic life such as fish and river-flies. Hugh Potter, the Environment Agency’s Water and Abandoned Metal Mines lead, looks at the action being taken to address the legacy.
The problems facing water are complex, with multiple sources of pollution affecting water quality. One of the lesser-known areas of the Environment Agency’s work is cleaning up pollution from abandoned metal mines.
Mining played a major part in Britain’s rich industrial history, but this also left thousands of abandoned mines scattered across our landscape. Almost all these mines had closed by the early 1900s but they are still releasing harmful metals including lead, cadmium and copper. This is one of the top 10 issues for water quality in England as it harms fish and river insects. Abandoned mines are the largest source of metals to British rivers and seas (click here for more information). Pollution is localised to about 1,500km of rivers - mainly in the North East, Cumbria, Yorkshire & Cornwall.
Confusing algae for sewage is an easy mistake to make, but there are some tips to telling the difference.
In today’s blog we look at how the Environment Agency helped to restore 1km of urban chalk stream in West Sussex. By Gareth Williams, Environment Programme manager Solent and South Downs In order to restore one chalk stream in …
Research Scientist Kerry talks about our use of DNA technology to understand what’s in the water.
Laboratory scientist, Sean, takes us through the science behind bathing water monitoring.
The United Kingdom generates over 200 million tonnes of waste per year, but the data gathered about what exactly is generated, how much, and the journey from initial collection to its final destination is limited. Different systems for reporting across …
