Scotland

Since the Second World War, expansion of the Medway towns of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham and industrial development in this area have increased the threat of pollution in the lower estuary. During ecological studies on the lower Medway estuary, macroinvertebrates and fish were analysed for five heavy metals, mercury, zinc, copper, lead and cadmium, periodically from April 1973–January 1976. In the absence of previous work of this kind in the area, this paper sets out the results and discusses their significance.