Friday 3 July 2009

C01034: UK soil herbage survey

Wednesday 1 October 2003

This survey project aims to provide a national overview of the chemical contamination of soil and herbage.

Study Duration : April 2002 to December 2003

Contractor : University of Liverpool

Background

This project, co-funded by the Food Standards Agency Scotland, the Environment Agency, the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, the National Assembly for Wales, the Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research, is intended to provide a national overview of the chemical contamination of soil and herbage, as a baseline for comparison to specific sites and to allow an assessment of changes in soil and herbage chemical quality since previous surveys.

Research Approach

This project aims to provide information about current levels of dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocabons (PAHs) and metals in surface soils and herbage, using the latest analytical methods by:

Detailing and assessing levels of dioxins, PCBs, PAHs, and metals in soils and herbage across UK locations, in the vicinity of significant sources and in urban areas and in non-industrial locations.
Comparing these levels with the results of previous studies in order to establish possible trends and cross-referencing the data generated with UK air monitoring data for the Toxic Organic Micropollutants Programme.

Graphic version of this page

C01034: UK soil herbage survey

Background

Research Approach

Tell a Friend

Printer friendly

Contact us

Get alerts

Our Sites