1,000km swim to research pollution
A CAMPAIGNER is set to swim hundreds of miles through all 15 of the UK’s national parks to collect water samples to check for microplastic pollution.
Laura Sanderson, who runs an open-water swimming company, will collect hundreds of samples as she swims nearly 1,000km (620 miles) through the UK’s national parks.
These will be analysed at Bangor University in Gwynedd.
The project, in partnership with campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), comes after an initial swim Ms Sanderson undertook found microplastics in Llyn Glaslyn at the top of Snowdon.
She said: “Last year we swam 26km from a lake at the top of Snowdon, down the river system, all the way to the coast.
“We were horrified when we were told the water we’d collected had microplastics.
“So now we want to see just how widespread the problem is and look at waterways in all our national parks.
“I’m hoping to start this March and so I’m training pretty much every day.”
Dr Christian Dunn, a senior lecturer at Bangor University, said water from Llyn Glaslyn had an average of three pieces of microplastic per litre, which, though a small amount, was “worrying” because it was at the top of a mountain.
“Concentrations of these microplastics then increased steadily as Laura swam downstream towards the coast.
“The sort of data we’ll get from this expedition is essential, as we need to learn all we can about microplastics in our waterways if we are to have any hope of tackling the problem,” he added.
SAS chief executive Hugo Tagholm said: “Because Laura is swimming through the rivers, lakes and coastline of the national parks, it gives us a unique opportunity to collect water samples from places we’d struggle to reach.
“Several of us from SAS will help with the analysis and join Laura along the way – though she’s the only one prepared to swim the full 980km.”