Toxic metals found in UK Peetlands can pose health risk

The “Cutting Edge” research by a team of Queen University Belfast (QB) found toxic heavy metals deposited throughout the UK.

They say that wildfires – and the effects of climate change – can leave the value of decades of pollutants such as lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium in our water courses.

Scientists say that the conclusions again wet and RestorationTo protect the environment and human health.

Peetlands are famous carbon sinks, which turn off greenhouse gases in their depths of water.

They are also absorbing industrial pollution that humans have been producing for two centuries.

The QB team led by Professor Graeme Swandes, as part of a global study with several other organizations, is investigating the core from the UK, Ireland and the front.

Pollution stored in remote northern Arctic samples has also been found.

“It is quite shocking to find such a high level in our Peetlands that you think in many ways these are incredibly ancient places,” the professor said.

“But not – they have been affected by our pollution.”

PHD student Ellie Pardi “jumped” on the occasion of working on the project.

“It is basically just about what we are doing, affecting the environment.

“And even though these contaminants were once stored in these Peetlands, but now they are being issued under climate warming,” he said.

He said that this is a cause of concern for the future.

She is particularly looking at the chorus from the island of Alasmere in Canadian High Arctic. Finding heavy metal contamination in “a very remote area with a very remote area”, it has been the “eye opening” for him.

“It just shows how many we are connected around the world,” he said.

Peetlands cover about 12% of Northern Ireland. In good condition, they create a new peat at a rate of only 1 mm in a year.

But more than 80% of them are in poor or humiliated state, due to burning or drying for peat extraction.

Uses in QB Labs evaluate how a changing climate can affect them.

Dr. Richard Foster has focused on the possible impact of three possible scenarios – a warming climate, wildfire and dry in summer.

While all three affect how peat behaves, burning has the potentially the greatest effect.

He said: “We are seeing that the burning senses actually raise some metals within Peetrand, in a type of ‘large pulse’ phenomenon in a type of use that we do not see in the core that are intact.”

“So we really have one of the initial findings that saving our system in wet, stable, intact situation is actually important to lock these peat metals, these pollutants, away in our Peetallands and prevent them from release,” Dr. Phantster said.

A long -awaited Peetlands strategy from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs requires executive approval.

Draft Climate Action Plan says North Ireland “To meet the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee to restore 10,000 hectares by 2027,” dramatically will have to increase its annual Peetland restoration activity “.

In the Gary Bog near the Ballimony in the county entream, more than 3,000 dams have been built to block drains and lift the water table back.

Here the Peat lasts at least nine meters depth, which means that it has been sequenceing carbon for more than 9,000 years and for that time.

Ulster Wildlife’s James Davni is leading the restoration work on the site.

He said that Peetland is our most important, most impressive, terrestrial carbon sink.

“So the fact that we have a 12% cover in the northern Ireland of Peetlands – in a lot of cases deep peat which is more than 50 centimeters – a large scope of work that can be done.

“Northern Ireland has a large part to play in dealing with climate change,” said Shri Davani.

Pro Swandals said that his team’s work message in the lab in QB could not be a starker.

“It is really clear that we need to ensure that these peetlands are kept wet. We need to restore them, rehabilitate them, block drains.

“And we need to prevent Peetland from burning,” he said.