Pollution is building beneath the surface along the False Bay seabed, with a new UCT study finding medicines, herbicides and metals across the bays waters and sediments, reports Cape town Etc .
Published in Marine Pollution Bulletin , the field research sampled 19 stations between April and June 2021 and linked the contaminants to wastewater discharges , stormwater runoff, harbour activity and urban development around Cape Town.
Researchers detected diclofenac, acetaminophen and carbamazepine, along with atrazine and metolachlor, throughout the False Bay seabed. Dr Buyani Mazeka said, We found that pharmaceuticals and herbicides are widespread throughout False Bay and that sediments appear to retain these contaminants over extended periods .
