Almost 500 chemicals found in England’s rivers and groundwater

More than half classed as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, with 20 categorised as substances of very high concern'

Almost 500 different chemicals, some of which are banned, have been found in various mixtures across all 171 river and groundwater catchments tested in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency, analysed by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations.

More than half of them are classified as very toxic, toxic or harmful to aquatic life, according to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and a banned, carcinogenic forever chemical" was among 20 substances of very high concern" found.