Our new group on Emerging Contaminants will explore unregulated (or recently regulated) chemicals for which there are ecological or human health concerns. Examples of emerging contaminates include pharmaceuticals and personal care products, disinfection-by-products, persistent organic chemicals and micro-plastics.
This research theme ties in with Natural Resources Wales SoNaRR research need:
| What are the sources and impacts of water pollution on freshwater ecosystems? | What are the impacts of new and emerging chemical contaminants and substances, such as neonicotinoid pesticides, nanoparticles and pharmaceuticals, on water quality and ecology? | Our limited understanding of new and emerging chemical contaminants and substances restricts our ability to assess their impacts. For example, there are currently no indicators for microplastics, and setting ecologically relevant thresholds is still in development. |
Recordings are now available for the ‘Emerging Contaminants’ sections of our Better Water Quality conference which ran from June 27th – 29th 2023.