KCL law students' account of starting to agree the meaning in practice of the rights of a river, here the River Ouse in Sussex:
www.kcl.ac.uk/from-theory-...
EA investigations suggest, since PBDEs were banned in the '90s levels in the environment have fallen, suggesting bans do work.
However, @wclnews.bsky.social highlights there are health concerns around some replacements for PBDEs.
consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/environment-...
They accumulate in sewage sludge produced at wastewater treatment plants + spread on farm fields as fertiliser.
Rain can was sludge off farmland + into waterways.
share.google/KjmEZNvgsbu0...
theconversation.com/one-of-the-w...
Welcome to the new campaign by the state - criminalising anyone who embarrasses them.
We've had the ludicrous convictions of peaceful Palestine protestors, now it's a water pollution activist.
Our failing state's death throes are truly bizarre.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
You can check Environment Agency data for your local stream or river using the link below to see if PBDEs are present in it.
Spoiler alert, I've never found a single English water body that didn't contain them:
environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-pl...
When we wash items containing PBDEs, these chemicals get into our wastewater systems.
Our sewage treatment systems aren't designed to remove PBDEs, so they enter rivers in treated or raw sewage.
So how are so many old-style chemical flame retardants ending up in rivers?
The chart below focuses on 1 variety - polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
They were used in items like textiles, furniture, electronics, upholstery, car interiors.
Some are now in landfill, where they seep out in leachate.
As these items degrade, they form dust particles containing PBDE.
These get dispersed in the air, eventually landing on land.
From there, they can be washed into rivers + streams during rain.
This air dispersal is one reason they can be found even in tiny brooks in remote places.
Analysis by @fidrango.bsky.social suggests there are multiple ways we could reduce use of all forms of chemical flame retardant without compromising fire safety:
fidra.org.uk/sustainable-...
Exclusive: Leachate is tankered to treatment works where it mixes with sewage and industrial effluent
Old style chemical flame retardants (CFRs), banned since the '90s on health grounds, are in almost every English river, according to analysis by @wclnews.bsky.social + @theriverstrust.bsky.social.
CFRs were above safe levels in all wildlife samples analysed by the NGOs.
Paul Powlesland told he acted illegally after organising volunteers to remove litter, weed and silt from River Roding
