The largest UK-wide, microplastic citizen science campaign to date, has revealed microplastics present in every UK waterway tested. Plastics were also found almost 400 feet underground in a natural cavern near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District.
Led by national non-profit organisation We Swim Wild, the project was completed after Covid travel restrictions threatened to stop founder Laura Owen Sanderson's campaign to swim and monitor every UK National Park for microplastics, from Source To Sea.
Over 100 Wild swimmers across the U.K. lent their support as ‘Waterloggers’ to collect water data using empty glass wine bottles. Each four- litre sample was tested in the laboratories at Bangor University by PHD scientist Luke Fears, which confirmed microplastics present in every sample.
Calling for the UK Government to take urgent action on the results, We Swim Wild Founder Laura said: “We now know that microplastics are infiltrating every...