First report / Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
Date:
[1971]
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: First report / Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    review of the qualifications and training, and access to scientific and tech- nological information, of those who control pollution might lead to measures which would encourage these services and improve them. We note that the report of the Working Party on Sewage Disposal comes to a similar conclusion. 86. Estuaries and the seas. The report of the Working Party on Sewage Disposal considers fully the discharge of sewage into estuaries and the sea, and makes some useful recommendations. But tidal waters, estuaries and the seas near our coasts are also polluted in other ways and there is not the same sense of responsibility, nor is there the same legislative provision, to protect these waters as there are to protect rivers. The recent disclosures about the presence of mercury in imported tuna fish is an example of the potential dangers. Pollution ot the sea is a matter for international enquiry. In shallow waters, like the North Sea, urgent decisions may have to be made about the dumping of noxious wastes. The problems of sea pollution are being studied by scientists in several countries. But we think there is a need, without waiting for the results of these studies, for a comprehensive enquiry into the extent of discharges and dumping of wastes into tidal waters, estuaries and the seas round our coasts, and into the kinds of control which should be exercised. 87. Monitoring. [t is impossible to say how rapidly and in what forms the environment is improving or deteriorating unless the quality of water and air is monitored and unless statistics are collected about the disposal of waste on land and the amount of dereliction in urban areas; nor can standards be set without the data from monitoring and other measurements. But monitoring and the compilation of statistics can be costly and wasteful of manpower; it is therefore essential to collect data in forms which can be effectively used. This calls for uniformity of techniques and units of measurement, which should preferably be agreed internationally, and careful decisions about the amount of monitoring to be done. In some cases the criteria for fixing standards—and therefore the things to be monitored—need to be determined. A study of monitoring and the collection of statistics would enable us to suggest just what monitoring is needed and how it should be done, in order both to help decision-making and to keep the public informed about what is happening in the environment. 88. One type of monitoring deserves special mention, namely, the measure- ment of levels of certain pollutants in animals and plants. There are grounds for extending the use of this “‘biological’’ monitoring, because it is a highly sensitive means of surveillance and can lead to the identification of pollutants whose effects were hitherto unsuspected. Since many toxic substances have delayed or cumulative effects, the first sign of harmful consequences is likely to appear in the unaccountable ill-health or mortality of plants or animals, or even people. Substances in this category, which are or might be discharged into the environ- ment, include the heavy metals, pesticide residues and other biologically active chemicals. Even when they are present in soil, air or water in undetectably small amounts, they can be selectively concentrated by living cells. Consequently, the most practicable way of detecting them is by making routine surveys of those species of animals and plants which appear likely to serve best as indicators. 89. Pesticides. We point out (paragraph 77) that makers and distributors of pesticides disagree as to whether or not they prefer voluntary or mandatory
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