Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have conducted into the pollution of watercourses by hormones contained in human waste.

The Environment Agency (EA) has worked over the last five years with the water industry via United Kingdom Water Industry Research (UKWIR) to understand better and quantify levels of hormones in pre- and post-treatment effluents containing human waste from wastewater treatment works. This will continue in the next phase of work due to start in 2020.

A study report, reference number 18/EQ/01/13, is available from UKWIR https://www.ukwir.org/eng/search-uk-water-industry-research-reports

The EA also monitors hormones in watercourses as part of a surveillance network of substances on an EU Watch List.