Irish Examiner view: Level of concern at new research

Water quality at almost eight out of 10 bathing water sites at beaches and lakes around the country was rated as 'excellent'. Picture: Denis Minihane

The weather has improved considerably in recent days, with all the markers of summer becoming more and more visible — including an outbreak of peace between warring ice cream salesmen in Donegal, as revealed here yesterday.

Sunny skies and warmer temperatures are naturally turning people’s attention to the beach, and fresh developments on that front are also encouraging. 

Last week, this newspaper reported that the Environmental Protection Agency found that water quality at almost eight out of 10 bathing water sites at beaches and lakes around the country was rated as “excellent”, while overall the agency found the quality of Ireland’s bathing water to be very high.

Before readers don their swimsuits, however, they might want to consider the results of a “concerning” new study from Dublin City University researchers. They found that Irish rivers contain low levels of antidepressants and antibiotics, with current wastewater treatment processes not sufficient to remove them.

This is worrying on two fronts — first, even low concentrations of such pharmaceuticals can have negative impacts on various levels of biodiversity within those ecosystems, as they are recognised as being potentially harmful to aquatic life. Second, the level of antibiotics in our water system is a separate concern given the growing phenomenon of antibiotic resistance in humans and animals.

This is complicated further by what one of the researchers described as a significant knowledge gap on the presence of pharmaceuticals in Irish surface waters.

Irish swimmers enjoy our rivers and lakes, but both work and research are necessary to ensure those are safe options.