Ravi ‘most polluted’ river in the world: study

LAHORE:

In its study, the University of York monitored 1,052 sampling sites along 258 rivers in 104 countries across all continents to quantify the presence of pharmaceutical ingredients – paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs – in these ecological environments.

The study concluded that contaminants in surface water posed a threat to environmental and or human health in more than a quarter of the studied locations globally – mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South America.

Read: LHC order on Ravi project challenged in SC

The highest mean cumulative concentration was observed in Lahore at 70.8 µg/L, with one sampling site on the Ravi River reaching a maximum cumulative concentration of 189 µg/L.

The most common contaminants were paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs in the river, according to the study which was published in the journal of Washington-based National Academy of Sciences.

Rivers in Iceland, Norway and the Amazon rainforest were recorded as the cleanest.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2022.