Leon Barron

Imperial scientists and Earthwatch have collected and are analysing chemical residues in more than a thousand samples collected by the public, some of which pose high risks to aquatic life. The insecticide imidacloprid, banned for agricultural use but still applied in spot-on flea and tick treatments for pets, posed the highest risk to aquatic invertebrates, according to the scientists.

Abstract Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent pollutants that pose major environmental and health concerns. While few environmental bacteria have been reported to bind PFAS, the interaction of PFAS with human-associated gut bacteria is unclear. Here we report the bioaccumulation of PFAS by 38 gut bacterial strains ranging in concentration from nanomolar to 500 μM.

Downloads Download Preprint Authors Abstract Concentrations of chemicals in river water provide crucial information for assessing environmental exposure to fertilisers and insecticides, heavy metals, illicit drugs, pathogens, pharmaceuticals, plastics and perfluorinated substances among others. However, using concentrations measured along waterways to identify sources of contaminants and predict their fate is complicated by downstream mixing.