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Water companies are main cause of microplastic pollution in UK’s rivers
New research by experts from The University of Manchester has found that the poor management of untreated wastewater and raw sewage by water companies is the main source of microplastic pollution in the UK’s rivers.
Three years ago, the researchers from the University’s Department of Geography were the first to demonstrate high levels of microplastic contamination on the UK’s river beds.
Now, new research published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found that water companies themselves are the cause of this contamination, as they are releasing wastewater during periods of dry weather into river flows that are too sluggish to disperse microplastics downstream.
BBC News
By Victoria Gill
Untreated wastewater routinely released into UK rivers is creating microplastic hotspots on riverbeds.
That is the conclusion of a study in Greater Manchester, which revealed high concentrations of plastic immediately downstream of treatment works.
The team behind the research concluded: untreated wastewater was the key source of plastic pollution.
The water company that operates along the river the scientists studied said it didn t fully accept the findings.
image copyrightJamie Woodward
image captionResearchers compared their sediment samples to water they collected from sewer overflows
Lead researcher Prof Jamie Woodward from the University of Manchester told BBC News that, at the most contaminated site in the River Tame, where the team carried out their study, there were concentrations over 130,000 microplastic particles per kilogram of sediment on the riverbed .
A preserved woolly rhinoceros has been exhumed from the permafrost in Russia
The extinct ice age cousin of the woolly mammoth has been pulled from the ice. Listen - 01:06
A well-preserved woolly rhino was discovered in northern Russia. Valery Plotnikov
An extinct woolly rhinoceros has been discovered and exhumed from the permafrost in Yakutia, in the north of Russia, The Siberian Times reported Tuesday. The carcass was 80 percent preserved and includes intact internal organs, teeth and stomach contents. More on ice age animals
The animal lived around 20,000 and 50,000 years ago and was a juvenile. It was discovered in August and is still covered in short, thick brown hair. The horn was found beside the animal, as reported earlier Wednesday by Newsweek.