England's Toxic Legacy: The Polluted Waters That Won't Heal The latest Environment Agency data paints a bleak picture: every single English water body is contaminated with toxic chemicals. Only 14.
3% of surface waters meet even basic ecological standards, a figure that has actually declined from 16. 3% in 2019.
Critics argue that the UK's lagging environmental policies and failure to match European regulations on pollutants like PFAS and mercury are to blame for this crisis.