To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the levels of pyridine in Northern Ireland waters.

Currently there is no legislative driver either within the retained EU, UK or local legislation that requires the monitoring of pyridine in the aquatic environment in Northern Ireland. Therefore no formal monitoring programmes are in place.

During the development of a non-targeted semi-quantitative screening method by the DAERA Water Chemistry Group, twenty freshwater sites were selected across Northern Ireland and a baseline screen carried out. Derivatives of pyridine were detected at some sites but were of low significance.