Chemical cocktails polluting lakes and rivers - including The Irwell and Mersey in Greater Manchester

“Chemical cocktails” are polluting England’s rivers, lakes and groundwater sites and poisoning wildlife, analysis has revealed. They were found in 1,600 waterways including the River Irwell which stretches 39 miles long from the headwaters in Rossendale to its canalised lower reaches in Salford.

This week as late spring turns into early summer nature appeared to be thriving where The Irwell meets the River Roche in Springwater Park, Whitefield. Sand martins were flitting out of riverbank nests; grey wagtails bobbed between rocks in the shallows, and four goslings trailed their Canada geese parents. The water is also clear enough to see two huge lorry tryes on the river bed.

But the Irwell at the footbridge over Salford University was among the top ten sites in the country for having the highest number of chemicals. It shared 8th position with the Mersey at Flixton Road in Trafford where 91 chemicals were identified from samples taken. The worst was also in the north west - 101 chemicals in the Mersey above Howley Weir in Warrington.

Around 100 chemicals, including PFAS "forever chemicals", pesticides and pharmaceuticals, have been found along the Irwell, Mersey, Stour, Colne, Thames, Trent, Yare, Medway, Humber and Avon rivers, though the actual number of pollutants is likely to be much higher, researchers said.

Using Environment Agency (EA) data, Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL) and The Rivers Trust found toxic combinations proven to be harmful to wildlife in 814 river and lake sites – 81% of the total where data is available. They found the same cocktails in 805 groundwater sites, representing 74% of the total.

Researchers tested for five different hazardous mixtures involving the forever chemicals PFOS, PFOA,