Almost Half of Europe's Water Is Threatened by Pollution

It's estimated there are about 100,000 organic chemicals in regular use in Europe, with 1,000 new ones entering the market each year. It's inevitable some of these compounds will find their way into waterways, but exactly how much of Europe is polluted and what kind of threat that poses to aquatic life has up until now remained murky.

Today, researchers from Germany, France and elsewhere released the results of what's reportedly the broadest-ever analysis of organic chemicals in European freshwater. Their findings are not heartening: They say they've gathered "strong evidence that chemicals threaten the ecological integrity and consequently the biodiversity of almost half of the water bodies on a continental scale."